Class B^3JL^S> 
Book . ^ £ 



Rev. FREDERICK R? GALLAHER, D.D. 



SKETCH OF HIS LIFE 



Jmteml jjtruit^ and Jffemorial Sermon, 



By Rev. S. E." WISH ARD. 

» \ 

Of East Saginaw, Michigan. 



TAVO SELECTED SERMONS. 

FROM MR. (jALLAHER S MANUSCRIPTS. 



HARTFORD: 
PRINTED BY CASE, LOCKWOOD & BRAIN ARD. 
1870. 



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SmE l^-.ut, the |3ebotcb Jtienir, tbe -faitbful anb Robing Christian 38rotbcr, 

THE 

§U». ^wfawfe p. (Stattalur, §. §. 

©bis ^nltrnut 
|g affectionately htscribcb bn bis Cbitrtb anb <£imgreciati(m. 



R, GALLAHER 



INTRODUCTION. 

The object for which this. volume has been prepared will 
probably.be perceived at once by those into whose hands it 
may fall. 

It is simply designed to honor the memory, and perpetuate, 
in some sort, the usefulness of a beloved classmate, brother, 
and pastor, who has early gone to his rest. Few pastors are 
loved as Mr. Gallaher has been, and is ; few have received 
more sincere honor in death, and few have been so deeply 
lamented after death. Hence at the close of the second ser- 
vice, on the day_on which the memorial sermon was preached, 
a few gentlemen, members of Mr. Gallaher's church and 
congregation, remained to consider the question of gratifying 
the general desire of possessing a suitable memento of their 
pastor. i After mutual consultation it was resolved that & me- 
morial volume be prepared. A committee was appointed to 
make the necessary arrangements for accomplishing the pro- 
posed work. Mr. H. L. Hall, chairman of that committee, 
called a meeting of gentlemen next morning, at which I was 
requested to prepare and gather such material as could be se- 
cured for a volume of this kind. 1 

The work has been undertaken in the midst of abounding 
pastoral duties, and has been carried forward as a delightful 
work of love. It now goes into the hands of those who will 
appreciate the subject, whatever may be thought of the 
method and style of its treatment, in so narrow limits. 

East Saginaw, Mich., 1870. S. E. WIS HARD. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

I. Introduction, 8 

II. Sketch op Mr. Gallaher's Life, - 9 

1. Childhood and Youth, ... 9 

2. The Student and Layman, - - 11 

3. The Beloved Physician, - - 16 

4. In the Theological Seminary, - - 20 

5. In the Ministry, - - - - 24 

6. The Pitcher broken at the Fountain, - 32 

7. A Tribute, - - 39 

III. Proclamation by Mayor Underwood, 40 

IV. Funeral Services, - - 40 

1. Address by Rev. S. E. Wishard, . - 43 

2. Remarks by Prof. Dunn, - -50 

3. The Burial, - - - - 55 

V. Memorial Meeting, - - - 57 

1. Remarks by Rev. Messrs. Porter & Schofield, 60 

2. " " Prof. H. E. Whipple, - 60 

3. " " Elder John Chandler, - 63 

4. " " Rev. J. A. Ranney, - - 65 

5. " " " Mr. Barnes, - 68 

6. " " " S. E. Wishard, - 71 

7. " " Mr. Botsford, Superintendent of 
Sabbath School, ... 72 

VI. Memorial Sermon, - 77 
VII. Two Sermons to his People, (selected from 

Mr. Gallaher's manuscripts,) - 97 

1. Glorying in the Cross of Christ, - - 99 

2. The Captain of our Salvation, - 114 



MEMORIAM. 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 

Rev. F. E. Gallaher, D. D., was the son of Eev. 
James GallaherandMrs. Lucinda (Houston) Gal- 
laher. His father was of Scotch-Irish extraction; 
whose early education was chiefly in the Word 
of God. This developed in him a great wealth 
of thought, imagination, and emotion. He was 
a man of abundant vital force, greatly in earnest 
in the ministry, deeply versed in Scripture 
knowledge. Hence Dr. Eoss of Huntsville, Ala- 
bama, has justly said of him : " Take him all in 
all, he was one of the most instructive and im- 
pressive preachers the West has ever produc- 
ed." 

The mother, Mrs. Lucinda Gallaher, was a 
cousin of General Samuel Houston of Texas. 
She was a devoted Christian wife and mother, 
impressing herself deeply and favorably upon her 
family, and the wide circle of friends with which 
she was connected. 

The subject of this sketch used frequently to 
speak of his mother with tenderness and affec- 
2 



10 



tion, tracing the silent but powerful influence of 
her life in molding the character of her children. 

The father was born in what is now Washing- 
ton county, Tennessee, Oct. 8, 1792* His first 
settlement in the ministry was about the begin- 
ning of the year 1816, at Rogersville, Tennessee. 
Eleven years afterwards Frederick Ross Galla- 
her was born at this place,March 27, 1827. He 
was three years old when the family moved to 
Cincinnati, his father taking charge of the Third 
Presbyterian church of the city. 

At the age of eight years he went with the 
family to Marion county, Missouri, where his 
father was connected with the Theological De- 
partment of Marion College. During these ear- 
ly years his father was frequently away from 
home, engaged in evangelistic labors. At such 
times his mother carefully taught him in those 
principles which laid the foundation of his after 
usefulness. 

Two years after the family had gone to their 
new home in Missouri, Dr. Nelson and Fred's 
father held a camp meeting in Marion county. 
These two men had been associated in evangel- 
istic labors in East Tennessee ; throughout Ken- 
tucky and in the West, God had given them great 
success. They were happily adapted to each oth- 



* Annals of American Pulpit, Vol. IV., page 533. 



11 



er in their manner of preaching and methods of 
labor. After labors abundant in the West they 
reached Mr. Gallaher's home, and arranged for 
the camp meeting already mentioned. Among 
other delightful results of this meeting was the 
blessing which came to several members of Mr. 
Gallaher's family. Fred, (as he was always fa- 
miliarly called,) though a child of but ten years, 
was led to consecrate himself to Him who bles- 
sed the little children and said, suffer them to 
come unto me and forbid them not. 

This event fixed the principles which he 
had been gradually receiving, and gave them a 
controlling influence in his future life. From 
that early period his life was marked by rigid 
adherance to principle, and that strict integrity 
which made him in riper years, a true friend 
and faithful minister. 

THE STUDENT AND LAYMAN. 

With so much maturity of character, and an 
ardent devotion to study, Fred's parents thought 
it wise to give him a collegiate course, and safe 
to, allow him to enter upon his studies at an ear- 
ly age. 

He could not have been more than thirteen or 
fourteen years of age, when he entered St. 
Charles College, located at St. Charles, Missouri 
Here he evinced the same firmness of purpose? 



12 



in what he thought to be right, that had charac- 
terized him in the home circle. His standard 
of scholarship was good, especially in the de- 
partment of mathematics. He delighted very 
much in the more difficult branches of the high- 
er mathematics. It was in this department of 
study that the logical cast of his mind had full 
scope, and he was trained for his pulpit work. 
Having completed his course he graduated (Aug. 
10th, 1844) in his eighteenth year. 

While his piety had not yet assumed that 
high spiritual type which characterized him 
later in life, yet it was controlling, and kept him 
true to his profession. An evil which he could 
not remove, or in some way remedy, he would 
not consent to be responsible for. He did not, 
at that early age, hesitate to put himself in the 
right position before his young companions. Be- 
ing invited to a social party at the age of sixteen 
or seventeen, during the progress of the even- 
ing dancing was introduced. Instead of en- 
gaging in the dance, or even giving it his ap- 
probation by remaining and looking on, as some 
older professors of religion did, he took his hat 
and excused himself for the evening. 

At this early age his mind was directed to the 
ministry as his life work. But entertaining a 
very exalted view of what a minister ought to 
be, both intellectually and morally, and having 



13 



before him such models as his father and Dr 
Nelson, he hesitated. His natural timidity and 
depreciation of himself did not urge him for- 
ward in what seemed to him the greatest work 
to which, any man could aspire. His brother- 
in-law, Dr. Furgeson, was a very successful phy- 
sician, and a man in whom young Gallaher had 
the fullest confidence. Distrusting himself so 
utterly, and being very warmly attached to his 
sister and her husband, the doctor, he became a 
pupil of Dr. Furgeson, with whom he commenc- 
ed studying medicine in the summer of 1846. 
He prosecuted his studies, attending two courses 
of lectures at the Medical College at Jackson- 
ville, Illinois, where he graduated in the spring 
of 1818, at the age of twenty-one. 

After completing his medical studies he re- 
turned to St. Charles, Missouri, which had been 
his home since his father's removal to that place 
in 1839. Here he entered upon the practice of 
medicine, and took his place as a layman in the 
church. Eev. Timothy Hill was at that time 
the pastor of the (N. S.) Presbyterian church at 
St. Charles, and seems to have been just the 
man to appreciate Mr. Gallaher, call him more 
actively into Christian work, and drop deeply 
into his heart words that afterwards had a large 
influence in turning him to the work of preach- 
ing Christ. 

2* 



14 



The pastor of that church says. " When I 
went there Dr. Gallaher was absent, studying 
medicine ; but after his graduation he returned 
home, and began his practice there among the 
friends and acquaintances of his youth. The 
situation of that church at the time referred to 
was one of unusual trial ; a weak Home Mis- 
sionary church, was struggling to build a house 
for worship — surrounded with obstacles quite 
uncommon, and an organized opposition of an 
nurelenting character. 

A church in that condition is likely to test the 
fortitude of its members and call out the real 
character of each one. Although Dr. Gallaher 
had not been a leader in religious things there 
were some traits which fitted him for leadership, 
and soon put him into a prominent position. 

Duty — what ought to be done — always occu- 
pied a prominent place with him. He was con- 
scientiously faithful, and consequently earnest. 
The prayer-meeting of that little church was 
held in private houses, and few were present, 
but among them was an aged Elder whose ear- 
nest voice of prayer still lingers in my ear, and 
the young Dr. Gallaher. He seldom said much, 
but was ready to pray, and conducted the sing- 
ing with good taste and success. 

After a time there was a prospect of a new, 
pleasant home for the struggling, determined 



15' 



church. The Dr. began preparation for a choir 
of singers to occupy it. He invited a small 
company of young people to meet with him for 
the practice of music. Of this company he was 
the natural leader, both from his taste in music 
and the circumstances which surrounded him. 
There was no election of a leader — why should 
there be ? He was in his natural place. That 
little group gradually grew into a well trained 
choir and embraced a large number of the most 
interesting young people of the town. The first 
revival that occurred in that church, a time long 
to be remembered, gathered the larger part of 
that choir into the church. Many of these peo- 
ple were drawn to that church, at first, by the 
singula;. 

I never think of that interesting group of 
young people without thinking how much can 
be done to build up a church by one earnest 
Christian singer, to aid the pastor in gathering 
a congregation, and in rendering the house of 
Gocl attractive to the careless and indifferent. 

But while Dr. Gallaher was influential as a 
leader of sacred song, there was another trait of 
character which gave him influence over others, 
and endeared him to his pastor in a special man- 
ner ; it was fidelity in whatever he undertook. 
One could depend upon him and not be disap- 
pointed. He had no special skill as a projector 



16 



of new things, but if he undertook a matter it 
was sure to be done, well done, and in season ; 
his words wereajwophecy of a coming fact." 

Such did Dr. Gallaher prove himself to be as a 
layman — modest, but true, reliable and doing 
everything to winch duty called. 

THE BELOVED PHYSICIAN. 

From St. Charles Dr. Gallaher went to St. 
Louis in 1849. He immediately took a promi- 
nent position in his profession, and during the 
prevalence of the cholera the following year, 
one of the large cholera hospitals was assigned 
to his care. He accepted this new responsibility 
with his usual modesty, and met the demands of 
his position with his usual promptness and suc- 
cess. His large sympathy, the inspiration of 
his genial nature, and his untiring fidelity were 
fine qualities to bring to his work in that trying 
time. 

In the midst of the ceaseless labor and the 
anxiety connected with his hospital work, his 
relations to the cause of Christ were not forgot- 
ten. He associated himself with the church un- 
der the pastoral care of Rev. J. B. Townsend, to 
whom he soon endeared himself, as a faithful 
lay worker, and as the "beloved physician." His 
short stay in St. Louis secured for him many 
warm and devoted friends. 



17 



It was about this time that the tide of emi- 
gration set in strongly towards the Pacific. A 
company of young men from St. Charles and vi- 
cinity were preparing for a westward move. Dr. 
Gallaher had been too busily occupied in his 
profession to be attracted by a trip so adventur- 
ous. But his brother, to whom he was very de- 
votedly attached, on account of failing health de- 
cided to take an airing across the plains, and 
joined the company already organizing. This 
decision arrested the attention of the Dr. at 
St. Louis. He determined to accompany his 
brothe*r. Accordingly, everything in readiness, 
they started with ox teams, on the 20th of 
April, 1850. A trip across the plains at that 
'time in ox wagons was quite in contrast with a 
journey to California to-day in palace cars. 
Four months tramping, toiling, thirsting and 
fasting, privation and danger brought them 
to the desired haven. They reached Sacra- 
mento, September 28th. 

Very little is known, beyond that circle of 
young men, of the three years which Dr. Galla- 
her spent in California. However it seems to 
have been a part of the education which Provi- 
dence designed to give him preparatory to his 
work in the pulpit. Those three years brought 
him in contact with men who were outside of 
the restraints of law and of society. Here he 



18 



met human nature in all its phases. The law- 
lessness of greed, in those mining regions at that 
time, was near of kin to that which reveals it- 
self on Wall Street to-day. Many young men 
left their homes in the East only to be stranded 
on the sands, or to be dashed to pieces on the 
rocks of California life. Some church members 
did no more than illustrate the fact that there 
is a profession which will not bear transplant- 
ing, even to so mild a climate as California. 

In the solicitude that was felt for the young 
men who had gone from St. Charles, Rev. Mr. 
Townsend said, "Well, if I should ever hear 
from California that Dr. Gallaher had proved 
recreant to his religion I should despair of any 
one. I never knew one in whom I had greater 
confidence. " 

This confidence was not misplaced. In May 
1853 he returned, more deeply impressed with 
the conviction that he ought to preach the gos- 
pel than when he went. In a conversation with 
his pastor, Rev. T. Hill, after his return, he said, 
a Do you remember the last thing you said to 
me when you left my office in St. Louis before I 
went to California ? We had been talking about 
my duty to preach which you earnestly urged 
upon me. As you left the room, turning to 
bid me good morning, you did it by saying, 
'Fred, you have got to preach, and you will need 



19 



to be prepared for it — and you had better be 
getting ready.' As I was crossing the plains, 
and in California, I have often thought, 'you 
have got to preach, and you had better be get- 
ting ready.'" 

This timely word of his pastor had followed 
hhn in all his journey. And now on his return 
the impression was deepened. The Master was 
now distinctly calling, and with all his sense of 
unfitness, the voice of love must be heard. He 
could have returned to the practice of medi- 
cine again, but for the deep conviction that duty 
pointed him towards the ministry. True to him 
self, and to Him who called him, when duty was 
made plain he conferred not with flesh and 
blood, but set his face to do the Master's bid- 
ding. 

He made his arrangements to enter Lane 
Theological Seminary at the opening of the year 
in September, 1853. But his father, who had 
been holding a series of meetings in Brunswick, 
Missouri, was attacked with dysentery. After 
an illness of five weeks he passed to his reward 
on the 19th of October. 

The son remained with his father until his 
death, and receiving the falling mantle of that 
godly man, turned his steps toward the Semina- 
ry. Says a very intimate brother, respecting 



20 



the decision which took him out of one profes- 
sion into another. 

"'The beloved physician' left the fairest pro- 
fessional prospects to enter the ministry, and 
neither himself nor the church of God had reason 
to question the propriety of the change. The 
conscientious, earnest, consistent layman be- 
came the successful, beloved, earnest pastor." 

IN THE SEMINAEY. 

The members of Lane Theological Seminary 
in the autumn of 1853, all have a distinct recol- 
lection of our brother Gallaher at that time. 

He came to us after the beginning of the 
term, (for the reasons already mentioned,) and 
under the shadow of a great affliction. His 
mother had passed to her reward in November, 
1850, while he was in California. His father 
had just ceased from his earthly toil. And the 
son, with all the affection of a child, felt this 
double bereavement. He stood before his life 
work without father or mother, an orphan. Only 
those who knew his devotion to his parents, 
could understand the weight of sorrow upon him 
when he came to the Seminary. He felt the em- 
barrassment also of having been several years 
out of his study, while his classmates were fresh 
from college. He threw himself at once, how- 
ever, into Seminary life and labor. The studies 



21 



were of a character to deeply enlist his heart as 
well as mind. Here his social gifts had full play. 
He found himself in contact with those who 
could appreciate the fine qualities of his nature. 
And yet he never suspected himself of possess- 
ing any gifts that should attract others. 

His good nature and merry wit were almost 
limitless. And he doubtless came honestly by 
his possession. Except his father, no one could 
tell a story better that he. And like President 
Lincoln, the blunders and ridiculous sayings and 
doings of others never failed to "remind him of 
a story/ 

It was in those strolls through the Seminary 
grounds, and those perfectly informal conversa- 
tions which spring up among students, after a 
day's study, in that exp msive hour when student 
brain and muscle clamor for a change of occupa- 
tion, that Gallaher's resources were adequate to 
the social demands of the whole company. His 
three years experience in California never failed 
to honor every draft for quaint humor which 
the company made upon him. 

Yet his wit was never low, his illustrations 
never unchaste, his hits never hurtful. His 
laugh, like his cry, was deep, honest, generous 
and in earnest, making himself and everybody 
else better. He had very little interest in what 
is known to be a necessary evil (?) of Seminary 
3 



22 



life, that is, those periodical effusions of a con- 
siderable modicum of barely tolerable oratory. 
And while the rest of us made some attempt to 
rise to the height of the occasion, he utterly de- 
clined to become great in that direction. 

His public orations in the Seminary were well 
written ; and shall I not say well delivered ? They 
were certainly delivered with great truthfulness 
and simplicity. He would rehearse his matter 
almost without a gesture or change of position 
and find the way to his seat as rapidly as pro- 
priety would permit. 

It was not because he did not enjoy the labor 
of preparing material, nor realize the importance 
of as much preparatory drill as could be secured. 
But in the deep honesty of his nature he could 
not endure that word "exhibition."" That tells 
the story. He could not bring himself to the 
point of exhibiting. His after work in the min- 
istry showed the genuineness of this feeling. He 
never exhibited, never stilted in the pulpit. 

During his stay in the Seminary Gallahers 
spiritual life received a new development, His 
studies, the near approach of the time when he 
must actually stand before the people with the 
message of life, and those daily christian activi- 
ties to which the young men in the Seminary 
are called, were rapidly manifesting their influ- 
ence upon his spiritual growth. His candor with 



23 



all questions of duty, and in the doing of those 
things which were decided to be duty, made it 
very certain to all who knew him, that with 
him christian life must result in christian pro- 
gress. 

Mr. Finney's visit to Cincinnati, on the invita- 
tion of the pastors of the city, became also the oc- 
casion of almost a new religious life to Mr. Gal- 
laher. For three months Mr. Finney preached 
the gospel day and night in some one of the 
churches. The members of the Seminary, both 
faculty and students, entered into the pirit of 
the effort. 

Mr. Finney's style of preaching, so clear, so 
simple, so discriminating, pungent, and power- 
ful, gave a new impulse to the religious life of 
the young men in the Seminary. 

Mr. Gallaher was just the man to be deeply 
moved and greatly benefitted. He received the 
truth in love, and consecrated himself anew to 
his chosen work. And during the remaining 
portion of his course in the Seminary, his life 
was enlarged and enlarging. 

Few men drew their friends so closely to 
them, so affectionately near. The members of 
his class in the Seminary understand this. Said 
one of them, (Reid of Anderson, Ind.,) in a 
private letter to Mrs G., "Your husband, 
now entered unon his higher life, was a man 



24 



whom I loved — nay, whom I love, very strong- 
ly, and whom I trusted in. * * * He has gone 
to increase the number of dear friends gone be- 
fore — not many such remain behind." 

Soon after the close of the second year in the 
Seminary, Mr. Gallaher was licensed by the 
Presbytery of Cincinnati to preach the gospel, 
and was married [June 26th, 1855] to Miss Mar- 
garet Fingland, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thom- 
as Fingland. After visiting friends in the West, 
during the vacation, he returned to the Semi- 
nary for the third year of theological study. 
Making his home some distance from the Sem- 
inary, he was less intimately associated with the 
students than in the preceding years of study. 

But he retained the strong hold which he 
had already gained upon the faculty and stu- 
dents. The christian intimacies of those years 
of study grew into delightful bonds of fellow- 
ship which the coming years of separation could 
not impair, and which death itself has only sus- 
pended for a brief interval. 

IN THE MINISTRY. 

Leaving the. Seminary a few weeks before the 
close of the term in 1856, Mr. Gallaher returned 
to Missouri, and "took charge of the church at St. 
Charles, of which he had been a member — thus 
a second time beginning a professional career 



•25 



among his early friends and acquaintances." He 
remained at this place, pleasantly renewing old 
friendships and forming new ones, until the 
following spring. It was in the autumn of 1856 3 
while serving this church, that he was ordained to 
the gospel ministry. In May. 1557. the Presby- 
terian church at St. Joseph. Missouri, invited liini 
to become their pastor. He immediately enter- 
ed upon his labors connected with that church. 
The unsettled condition of the country at that 
time, and especially that part of the country 
bordering on Kansas, rendered the work of a 
pastor very difficult. Yet Mr. Gallaher ear- 
nestly prosecuted his labors. He remained a 
little over two years with this people, enjoy- 
ing greatly the privilege of preaching the Gos- 
pel of Christ. His labors were attended with 
success, the Master putting His seal to his 
work in the blessing of a revival of religion. 
Though this was not very extensive, it came as 
a foretaste and pledge of what he was to enjoy 
in larger measure in other fields. In Septem- 
ber. 1859. he returned again to St. Charles, and 
taught seven months in his Alma Mater, in the 
meantime preaching almost every Sabbath, sup- 
plying vacant pulpits. In the fall of I860, he 
accepted an invitation to supply the New School 
Presbyterian Church in Newport. Kentucky. 
The arrangement for labor here was only teinpo- 

d 



26 



rary, and closed in a few months. The begin- 
ning of the war at this time, rendered pastoral 
work in the border state of Kentucky very diffi- 
cult. The church was closed, many of the mem- 
bers removing to Cincinnati for safety. Galla- 
her had become somewhat disheartened by these 
frequent interruptions, but He who had called him 
into the ministry, was teaching him more perfect- 
ly the way of faith. 

Acting upon the advice of a few friends in 
Cincinnati; he determined to visit the State of 
Michigan. He reached Adrian near the close 
of a week, in the latter part of May, called upon 
Mr. Eddy, one of the Elders of the church at this 
place, and was invited to preach on the following 
Sabbath. The morning came, he made his ap 
pearance in the pulpit, went through with the 
introductory service in his usual deliberate man- 
ner — then came the text, followed by a clear 
kindling flame, the heat rising to a steady glow, 
intensifying and melting. The people were 
deeply interested in his preaching, and that day's 
work linked, by various combinations, brother 
Gallaher's life work with our State and Synod. 
The church at Hillsdale being unsupplied, in- 
vited him to visit them. The result of this 
mutual acquaintance was, that on the third of 
July, 1861, Mr. Gallaher with his family arrived 
at Hillsdale, and commenced there a work which 



27 



was to terminate only with his life. It was in 
the church and congregation at Hillsdale, that 
Gallaher found scope for his large heart, his 
excellent mental powers, and his generous social 
nature. Here he had time and motive to elab- 
orate his material. He settled earnestly to his 
work. 

It is thought that small trees and shrubs are 
the better for transplanting, but the valuable 
oaks must have ti ne for deep rooting. The 
Hillsdale pastor was of the latter kind ; frequent 
transplanting had been painful. The rooting 
process brought abundant life to him and his 
people. 

His mind moved rapidly and with strength, 
his thoughts taking the logical rather than the 
imaginative cast. His memory was retentive, 
and could be relied upon in his labor. He was 
a fine student of men, and dealt with their con- 
sciences much more than their fancies. One 
who is competent to speak, has said of him — 
"•'As a preacher he was clear, methodical, and 
deeply in earnest : a sort of pathos peculiar to 
himself, marked all his words and gave them 
power. I have not heard him for several years, 
and know not his later style, but I would de 
scribe him as a man of strong mental powers ; 
but above all things characterized bv a calm 



28 



earnestness, a kind of fire that had no smoke, but 
glowed with a steady white heat that warmed 
and subdued everything that came into contact 
with it." 

His preaching was therefore effective in 
awakening careless minds, and in furnishing 
food for the living ones of his church. Three 
special revivals of religion were given to him 
during his labor in this church. Scarcely a 
communion passed without some of the mem- 
bers of his Sabbath School or of the congrega- 
tion being brought into the fold. 

Some one has said " that man's preaching is 
best, the largest proportion of w^hose sermons 
would be appropriate to use in the midst of a 
revival." Taking this standard, Gallaher would 
scarcely be surpassed as a preacher. 

Yet it would be difficult to say which were the 
better, his preaching or his shepherding. As a 
pastor, he wielded a powerful influence. His 
life among the people was of the utmost import- 
ance to his work. All men respected and hon- 
ored him, and most men loved him. His tact 
and firmness, in dealing with those difficult 
characters and questions which are found in 
every congregation, gave him unusual control 
over men. 

To the sick room he always brought a heal- 
ing balm, for the soul at least. His experience 



29 



as a physician, his tender sympathy, and the dis- 
cipline of sorrow combined to qualify him to 
bring the best of consolation to the bedside of 
the suffering. He could tread the chamber 
where nerves were in insurrection, and the beat- 
ing brain was throbbing against the fevered 
temples. He could talk, or sing, or pray, where 
other voices could not be tolerated. One who has 
been an invalid for years, and for months con- 
fined to the bed, says, "how many, many hours of 
mental and physical suffering have been made 
more endurable by his ministering kindness and 
sympathy. Unless something of importance de- 
tained him, no week passed without seeing him 
at my bedside." And when it was intimated to 
him that he was overtaxing himself, he answered, 
" You do wrong to say or think it. I am always 
glad to come and cheer you all in my power." 
66 And," adds this suffering one, u I learned to look 
upon those calls and his kindness as an almost 
recompense for all the pain and weariness at- 
tendant upon my illness." The same pen writes, 
" He had a heart full of the tenderest sympathy 
and compassion for every form of suffering. No 
one knew so well how to comfort and counsel, 
no one so gentle in reproof as he." 

Mr. Gallaher constantly exercised a very 
strong and salutary influence over the young. 
Few- pastors were so much at home in young 



30 



people's meetings, or drew young converts into 
labor and holy living, with such success. Hence 
the revivals enjoyed under his ministry gathered 
many from the youth of his congregation. 

The type of his piety was of the cheerful, at- 
tractive kind, but none the less deep and fervent. 
Rev. C. G. Finney of* Oberlin, with whom Mr* 
Gallaher spent a few days, two or three years 
before his death, has given a very correct picture 
of the piety which characterized the Hillsdale 
pastor. Mr Finney says : 

" I was greatly interested in the spirit and 
bearing of the man while at our house. We 
have entertained a great many ministers of 
Christ with much pleasure and profit, but I do 
not recollect the visit of any one of them with 
more interest than that of brother Gallaher. 
His tender, earnest spirit struck me with much 
force. There was an earnest faith and love, and 
solemnity about him that made his presence in 
our family savory in a high degree. We could 
gladly have entertained him for any length of 
time, and could have well afforded it, because of 
the savor of Christ that was about him. I have 
seldom seen more of the Master in any chris- 
tian'minister with whom I have been acquainted. 
I was particularly struck with the earnestly 
inquiring attitude of his mind in regard to the 
higher forms of Christian experience, and with 



31 



his manifest candor and discrimination in study- 
ing the subject. I had known him slightly, as 
you know, when he was a student at Lane Sem- 
inary. I there became interested in him. But 
when I saw him under our roof, and had leisure 
to converse fully with him, I learned to love him 
dearly, and to regard him as one of the most de- 
vout ministers of Christ that I ever knew. His 
call from earth to heaven was no doubt wise, 
and to him it must have been glorious: but his 
departure from his people and his family, and 
the closing of his earthly labors, are deeply affect 
ing to them, and to all who knew him. His 
church may secure a pastor of as much intellect- 
ual capacity as he had, but I fear it will not be 
easy to find one of so spiritual, earnest, and ten- 
der a soul as he possessed. May God bless them, 
and send them a man after his own heart to 
supply the place of the beloved servant whom 
He has called to a higher sphere of usefulness 
and employment." 

Such was Mr. Gallaher among his people for 
eight years, ministering to them of the fatness 
of the gospel of Christ, and giving himself to 
them in the daily consecration of a beautiful and 
devoted life. At the same time he was known 
among his people in a different relation, in that 
which God had given him in his own family, as 
husband and father. As such he was careful, 



32 



loving, cheerful, tender, true. It was always 
" light in his dwelling." 

THE PITCHER BROKEN AT THE FOUNTAIN. 

The weary pastor had toiled well. He had 
preached since entering the ministry, twelve 
hundred and seven sermons. He had received 
into the church at Hillsdale, one hundred and 
eighty-seven members. He had engaged in the 
work of the Christian Commission during the 
war, had sympathized with the suffering and dy- 
ing, had carried the sorrows of a confiding people 
in all their family afflictions, had done all with 
his might — nothing by halves. Disease had 
laid its hand upon him. He panted for rest, yet 
could not cease from his work. The strong man 
found himself looking for repose. His step be 
gan to falter. Struggling with disease he yet 
pressed on to the work of his life, as if in haste 
to have it completed. He sought a temporary 
relief in an attendance on the meeting of the 
General Assembly in New York, May, 1869, but 
found it not. He returned home and preached 
once more to his people. 

And as the Sabbath came again he prepared 
to preach from 1 John iii. 1, 2. " Behold what 
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon 
us, that we shoidd be called the sons of God : 



33 



therefore the world knoioeth us not, because it 
knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons 
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall 
be : but we know that when He shall appear toe 
shall be like Him ; for toe shall see Him as He 
is." The sermon was prepared in brief, as most 
of his sermons had been since the failure of his 
health. He expected to stand before his people 
ao:am, but as the bell was calling them to the 
house of worship, the Messenger touched again 
the silver cord that was soon to be loosed, and 
he came not with the people. For a few days 
he stood on the dividing line, looking this way 
and that, earthward and heavenward. "I am," 
said he, u like one walking on a narrow ridge, lia- 
ble anv moment to fall on either side, to come back 
to life and labor, or pass into the unseen world." 
His attachment to his family, and beloved chris- 
tian brethren, drew him this way, while the 
mightier love beyond was drawing him toward 
the coming rest. In this point of balance be- 
tween two worlds, he called a brother in his 
church, saying/*' I have sent for you to have a free 
conversation on the subject of personal piety, not 
that I have any doubt as to the truth of our holy 
religion, or of my personal interest therein. I 
have labored long in the vineyard, my hopes buoy- 
ant or depressed, much in proportion as success 
or failure attended my labors, generally happy in 
3 



34 



my work and enjoying much of the Saviour's 
presence and blessing. Now I can do nothing — 
hope and joy from successful labor can no longer 
be mine. I must lay down my armor and be 
sick. What now will sustain and comfort me ? 
Certainly not the rewards of labor, for I can 
perform none. And as to what is past, so much 
of imperfection, partial success or entire failure 
has attached thereto, that its review becomes 
unsatisfactory, and often tiresome. You, dear 
brother, have been down by the river's brink. 
I may be fast tending thither ; tell me then, how 
you felt, and how I can obtain joy and peace 
with such a possibility, yea probability before 

me." Mr. 11 hesitated to attempt to teach 

one so learned in all the technicalities and mys- 
teries of theological lore, seeing which, his pas- 
tor said, " All these things in which I have rev- 
eled and delighted are as nothing now ; what I 
want is the marrow of the gospel in the simplest 
plainest language." To this the reply was made, 
" Christians while laboring for Christ, grow in 
grace gradually, and much in proportion to their 
faithfulness and zeal. But a different, and per- 
haps higher degree of grace is needed to enable 
one to cease all labor and still be happy. Such 
grace is attainable." "That is my want — how 

shall I obtain it V Mr. R said, ? 'He that 

spared not his own Son, but delivered him up 



85 



for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely 
give us all things' — this grace is one of the all 
things — Ask for it and you shall have it." Then 
followed a season of earnest, believing prayer, 
in which a full consecration to God was sought. 
At parting, the Pastor's countenance, though 
bathed in tears, was radiant with joy and peace 
— peace as a river. He seemed to have obtained 
the higher grace he so earnestly sought. And 
the scripture was fulfilled — "He that watereth 
shall be watered also himself." 

For several days he was able to walk about 
his chamber. With some of his brethren he 
conversed freely in reference to his worldly mat- 
ters, expressing frequently his recognition of the 
providence which had shaped every thing so 
well for his family ; that his business needed no 
further attention from him. His peaceful trust 
in the Eedeemer was growing broader and 
deeper, " like a river," every clay. He was wil- 
ling to go or stay as the Master should direct, 

The progress of disease was steady, and a 
few days later found him upon his dying bed. 
He suffered extremely at times, and could only 
converse in broken sentences, but desired to have 
christians converse freely, as it could not injure 
him, and was a source of great comfort. To 
one of the elders visiting him he said, "lam not 
in the least depressed in spirit, but very happy." 



36 



As this brother was about kneeling for prayer, 
he expressed a desire 66 to be remembered, not 
any longer as your pastor, but as a poor sinner, 
needing especially the grace of patience, to suffer 
all the will of G-od — willing, anxious to go ; but 
willing to stay, especially for the sake of my 
wife and children." In response to a blessing 

which Mr. R craved upon him, as he was 

about leaving his room, he opened his large 
lustrous eyes, his face glowing with joy, and 
murmured, "I know in whom I have believed, 
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that 
which I have committed unto Him against that 
day." 

Thus nearing the other shore, the blessed Mas- 
ter was drawing aside the veil, revealing himself 
and putting His arms of love closely about him. 
The hymns which had animated him in the midst 
of his work, now became the beautiful forms 
through which his faith and love found expres- 
sion. The following note should here have place, 
describing the last interview of a dear brother 
with his pastor, on Sabbath evening, July 11th : 

"After hearing a comforting sermon in the 
morning and enjoying a most precious commu- 
nion season in the afternoon, I attempted to 
spend the evening with my dear Pastor, and 
recount to him the scenes of the day. Although 
I knew he would greatly enjoy the recital yet 



37 

I approached his bedside with the sad appre- 
hension that this might be our last interview. 
And so it proved, for sickness intervened to pre- 
vent another. He was sleeping most sweetly. 
Eetiring to the next room, I waited half an hour ; 
and when about to leave, he heard my voice and 
kindly requested my return to his side. It was 
a precious interview which no words can de- 
scribe. He said his friends thought him better, 
perhaps he was — was willing to be better, or 
worse, to live and again preach the gospel, or to 
die now, which was far better for him. He be- 
lieved his work was done, and that if spared to 
perform more, he could not repair past imperfec- 
tions — would rather go now, as he was ready. 
Seeing him again laboring for breath, I bade him 
adieu ; and thus ended on earth our sweet and 
precious intercourse, soon I trust to be renewed 
in heaven. Dear Brother, thou hast gone to 
the better land of which we so often sang. I loved 
thee as I loved no other man — and I mourn 
thee as I never mourned before. Jesus alone 
can heal the wound. 

Ax Elder." 

The dying Pastor had entered upon his last 
week on earth. And as the pangs of mortal 
strife were loosening his hold upon this life, his 
soul was feasting on the precious things of re- 
3* 



38 



deeming love. His conversations were brief, 
and interrupted by weakness and pain, but ex- 
ceedingly edifying to all who heard him. He 
had entered the land of Beulah. His weary 
feet were treading toward the upper way. On 
Thursday (the 15th) the golden city seemed to 
rise before his vision. He said, 66 1 am nothing 
but a poor lost sinner at the feet of Jesus." 
"Christ is very near, Oh, so near!" 

"My faith looks up to Thee, 

and 

" Rock of ages cleft for me," 

he said, " are just the hymns for a dying man." 
Through Thursday evening, and Friday, the 
battle went on — the body trembling and failing, 
the soul mounting upward triumphing. 

" Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee," 

was the murmuring petition that went up from 
his soul, as life was ebbing out. And at nine 
and a half o'clock, P. M., u he was not, for God 
took him." 

The weary eyes were closed, the tired limbs 
were composed to rest, the throbbing heart was 
stilled. But the living, loving soul of our dear 
brother had mounted away to Him " who loved 
us and gave Himself for us," and to those 
activities which are the heritage of the re- 
deemed. 



39 



Thou art "not dead, but sleeping — " 

Oh. patient heart and true, 
In God's own safest keeping. 

Thine agony is through. 

Through every mist of sorrow. 

Oh. tender, loving eyes — 
They opened to the splendor 

Or Eternity's surprise. 

Dear lips of truth and blessing, 

On earth tho ? mute for aye, 
In heaven shall sing glad praises 

Throughout an endless day. 

Oh, feet that never faltered ! 

Though thorny was the road. 
Their journey's done, and they have reached 

The city of our God. 

Our hearts go with thee, absent one. 

Yet it were wrong to weep. 
For well we know that " so He gives 

To His beloved sleep." 

A sleep, O suffering heart and tried, 

Not one need ever fear. 
He touched thine eyelids and they closed. 

Thou wast to Him so dear. 

Oh friend of mine ! forever free 
From earthly pain and fears, 

What tribute can I pay to thee ? 
I have no might with tears. 

Chicago. July, 1800. 



•Written by one to whom, in hours of suffering, Mr. Gallaher had 
often brought the balm of eornforr, during his pastoral at Hillsdale. 



40 



On the day of Mr. Gallaher's funeral the 
following proclamation was issued by the mayor 
of the city : 

CITY OF HILLSDALE. 

In the death of Key. Dr. Gallaher every 
citizen has lost a friend, the community the 
example of a model Christian gentleman. 

In attestation of our respect, and that all 
may have opportunity to attend his funeral 
it is requested that all places of business be 
closed from 3 o'clock to 6 this P. M. 

GEO. W. UNDERWOOD, 

July 19, 1869. Mayor. 



THE FUNERAL SERVICES. 

At the hour appointed for the funeral, 2.30 
P. M., a very large assembly of the people came 
together at the residence of Mrs. Gallaher, filling 
the house and a large part of the spacious lawn in 
front of the house. The character of this con- 
gregation was a touching tribute to the life of him 
whose death the people mourned. It was com- 
posed of the members of the Presbytery of 
Coldwater, the pastors and members of the 
churches in the city, and of several of the 



41 



churches in the country adjacent, members of 
the college faculty, citizens, including all classes 
of business men, Sunday school scholars and 
teachers, and the poor and afflicted who had lost 
a friend and brother in the death of their pastor. 
As the lame and almost helpless ones came 
halting, and bowed with grief, to bring this 
their last tribute of love and affection to him 
who in life had been their friend and adviser, 
many realized anew the value of the life which 
had just closed. 

The choir sang the hymn — 

Nearer, my God, to Thee, 

Nearer to Thee : 
E'en though it be a cross 

That raiseth me, 
Still all my song shall be, 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee. 

Though like a wanderer, 

Daylight all gone, 
Darkness be over me, 

My rest a stone, 
Yet in my dreams I'd be 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee. 

There let the way appear, 

Steps up to heaven ; 
All that Tliou sendest me, 

In mercy given, 



42 



Angels to beckon me 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee. 

Then with my waking thoughts, 

Bright with Thy praise, 
Out of my stony griefs, 

Bethel I'll raise ; 
So by my woes to be 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee. 

Or, if on joyful wing, 

Cleaving the sky, 
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, 

Upward I fly, 
Still all my song shall be, 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee. 

After the singing of the hymn, I read II Tim. 
iv : 6, 7, 8, offered prayer, then read the funeral 
chant, which had often been sung by the de- 
parted, while in the midst of the battle of life. 

Brother, thou art gone before us, 

And thy saintly soul is flown, 
Where tears are wiped from every eye, 

And sorrow is unknown ; 
From the burden of the flesh, 

And from care and sin released, 
Where the wicked cease from troubling, 

And the weary are at rest. 



43 



The toilsome way thou'st traveled o'er, 

And borne the heavy load, 
But Christ hath taught thy languid feet 

To reach his blest abode ; 
Thou'rt sleeping now like Lazarus 

Upon his Father's breast, 
Where the wicked cease from troubling 

And the weary are at rest. 

Sin can never taint thee now, 

Nor doubt thy faith assail, 
Nor thy meek trust in Jesus Christ 

And the Holy Spirit fail; 
And there thou'rt sure to meet the good 

"Whom on earth thou loved'st best 
Where the wicked cea-e from troubling 

And the weary are at re.-t. 

The chant was sung, after which I read the 
passage of scripture contained in the Gospel by 
Matthew, xi. 28, 29, 30: "Come unto me all ye 
that labor, and are heuvy laden, and I will give 
you rest, Take my yoke upon you, and learn of 
me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye 
shall find rest unto your soids. For my yoke is 
easy and my burden is light" 

FUNERAL ADDRESS. 

This large congregation of bereaved and sor- 
rowing souls will appreciate the difficulty with 
which I attempt to speak to them, if I am per- 
mitted to state a fact or two. This moment 
brings to me, with yourselves, a very great sor- 
row. I stand here by the silent form of your 



44 



pastor, who was my dearest earthly friend and 
nearest christian brother. Almost sixteen years 
ago we met for the first time in the theological 
seminary. Together we entered upon those stud- 
ies which were to furnish the preparation for our 
life work ; together we looked into the future 
with a kindred enthusiasm, planning and hoping 
for success in the ministry. There we formed 
attachments which can better be appreciated by 
these pastors upon whom God has laid the work 
of the ministry. Eight years ago this month 
we came into this state, after a separation of a 
few years. Here we have been united in the 
work of the Master. When the Spirit of God 
rested on my congregation, your pastor came 
to me, to help gather the harvest, and I have 
been permitted to be with him, and at other 
times to hear from him of the success which 
w God was giving him in his work. By every 
spiritual tie he was very dear to me. "Very 
pleasant hast thou been unto me." And if as 
strong a man as David could not restrain his 
tears at the grave of Abner, you will bear with 
me if I am weak in your presence to-day. 

I have read these beautiful words of our 
sympathizing Lord, because they are just what 
we all need at this hour. Jesus says " Come 
unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden." 
To-day we are burdened with a dee}3 and tender 



45 



grief. It weighs upon our hearts until we are 
"heavy-laden? To Jesus we come. His voice 
calls us to Himself for help to pass through this 
trial. And how ? " Take my yoke upon you 
and learn of me." 

This direction of the Saviour contains a 
thought which I am only beginning to under- 
stand. It is this, the yoke of Christ is the great 
instrument of moral education. Why is it that 
so many souls have only a name to live, and 
not the power of a new life ? Because they do 
not cheerfully and sweetly put their necks un- 
der the yoke. Hence they are not educated in 
spiritual things — can never learn of Christ. 
For he says — " take my yoke and learn of me." 
Many are trying to put off Christ's yoke, and 
yet learn of Him. It can not be done. We 
shall live and die in ignorance of the precious 
wisdom which He can impart, unless we cheer- 
fully take His yoke. It is in the path of patient 
submissive toil, wearing the yoke, that we learn. 

This hour we need to learn obedience. From 
none can we learn it so well as from our Mas- 
ter. He obeyed the Father, going straight to 
duty, turning neither to the right hand nor the 
left ; so that at the end of His work He could 
say, "It is finished" He had done all that had 
been assigned Him, had thoroughly completed 
it, it was finished. Christ's obedience was true, 
5 



46 



full, unwavering, persistent, until it cost Him 
His life. "He became obedient unto death, 
even the death of the cross." This lesson of 
entire obedience we need to understand better 
as christian men. In all the churches of Christ 
we need men who will obey God at all costs, 
who will make sacrifices for the command. Our 
weakness as christians is in this, that we quail 
and falter when the path of duty leads through 
dangers. Men who wear the name of soldiers 
do not stand up squarely on the field of battle. 
Our captain stood firm, and says, "learn of me." 
This much had our brother learned. He fol- 
lowed God where duty led, was true and obedi- 
ent unto death. When God called him to speak 
all the words of this life, he counseled only 
with God. He never asked you what he might 
preach, what would be popular, or unpopular. 
He obeyed God, following the convictions which 
the Holy Spirit gave him. 

t rr Taking the yoke of Christ we are to learn 
from him the lesson of entire consecration. 
The great want of the churches to-day is a full 
and unreserved consecration, a consecration to 
Christ that is exhaustive. This semi-religious 
life is near of kin to utter death, this partial in- 
terest is next to no interest. The cause of God 
demands to-day consecrated men, men who are 
consumed with the passion of love to Him who 



47 



first loved us. And in this Christ Jesus is our 
glorious pattern, and may well say, " learn of 
me." He was consecrated to the work of re- 
demption; the anointed one. All His life, 
every word of love and pity which He spake 
ran into the mighty current that brought Him 
from above, and was bearing Him to the cross. 
The one though t,"the joy that was set before Him," 
never dimned before His vision. He lived to 
save men, He taught to save men, He journeyed, 
He ate, He slept, He waked, watched, prayed, 
and died /or one object, He was consecrated to 
it, and every drop of His life blood was drained 
out in the accomplishment of that end. This 
was consecration, beautiful, grand, all-consum- 
ing ; and, as it passes before our vision to-claj 
we hear Him saying, " learn of me." This lesson 
learned by those of us who bear His name, and 
instantly the power of His people is immeasur- 
ably enhanced. And how the importance of 
this consecration stands out before us, as we 
witness the rapid termination of life's work. 
We are hastening swiftly to the point when 
our work must cease. For our brother it has 
ceased ; and presently the same will be true of 
each of us. 

Taking the yoke of Christ we are also to learn 
hoio to love souls. Jesus loved souls. He loved 
not in word but in deed, in mighty deed. His 



48 



love was not a profession bnt an action, not a 
theory bnt a wondrous fact, a fact controlling 
Him in all He said and did. The passion that 
made Him mighty, and willing to save, was love. 
Hence He could not tire in His work, He could 
not be diverted from it. There was not wealth 
enough in the universe to buy Him off from 
saving souls. There was no position that could 
win Him from it, nor was there any personal 
want or suffering that could turn Him aside. It 
was He " who loved me, and gave Himself for 
me," as the evidence of His love. And so com- 
ing down, and lifting us up to the bosom of His 
love, He says, — "learn of me." Learn to love 
the souls of men, not their honors, or flatteries, 
not their good opinions, not their favors, but 
their souls, " not yours, but you!' And this is 
the passion that must seize upon us who tell the 
story of salvation, and upon you who hear this 
story. 0, if we but understood how much these 
souls are worth for whom Jesus died, how much 
they are worth to Him, to us, to all the re- 
deemed, what a loss their loss would be, and 
what a gain their gain would be, our hearts 
would break with love for them as we see them 
going down to death. Our feet would be swift 
to carry them the tidings of life. Our mouths 
would be full of prevailing arguments. Our 
brother, who has left us, had caught some of 



49 



that passion. It moved him to earnest and 
careful work, and often turned his words into 
tears of solicitude in your behalf. 

Still another lesson — Christ would teach us 
to-day how to endure trial. This world is full of 
disappointment, perplexity, sorrow, and suffer- 
ing. The morning of life soon passes into the 
darkness of night — the wail of sorrow mingles 
with the song of joy. Disease, suffering, and 
death lay their hands upon our cherished ones, 
and we are left in tears. Into almost every 
family bereavement has entered. Into this 
family, this church, this city, a great sorrow 
has come. Every heart here feels the pang of 
parting with a beloved brother. And in the 
midst of our tears and moans we hear our Lord 
again saying " learn of me." For " tho' He were 
a son, yet learned He obedience by the things 
which He suffered." He trod the winepress of 
divine wrath alone. He drank the cup of a lost 
world's sorrow to the very dregs. All pain, all 
suffering, all anguish was His, so that He ex- 
claimed — " I am exceeding sorrowful, even 
unto death." For " He bore our sins in His own 
body on the tree." But, 0, how patiently ! how 
meekly ! with what confidence in the Father did 
He receive it all! He accepted the trial, and 
conquered through suffering. And now his ex- 
ample is before us. Imitating Him, let us bow 
5* 



50 



to the dispensation which has assembled us to- 
day. Let us receive the consolation of these 
gracious words, and come unto Him, all who 
labor and are heavy laden. This congregation 
and church so deeply smitten may come, these 
citizens who mourn the loss of a true citizen, 
these christian workers in the city and the sabbath 
school, these brethren in the ministry, this sor- 
rowing family and these relatives, all may come 
unto Him. Let us take His dear yoke now, and 
by this instrument of education learn how to 
obey, how to live consecrated lives, how to love 
souls, and how to endure trial, I can only com- 
mend you to Him who is able to comfort and 
keep you. 

Rev. R. Dunn, pastor of the college church, 
also professor of theology, and long associated 
with Mr. Gallaher in christian work in the city, 
being invited to occupy a few moments, said : 

u This is a sad day to us all, not to him who 
has just been released from the cares and labors 
of life in which he was wearied, but it is a sad 
day to this family. And the richness of the 
blessings heretofore enjoyed in the goodness of 
the husband, father, and friend, for which so 
much gratitude may and ought to be felt, only 
renders the grief of the present hour more 
pungent. This grief and awful vacuum, now 
experienced, and to be experienced through al 



51 



the future of life, can only be realized by those 
who have passed through a similar experience. 
But I know this grief, can feel the anguish, and 
can sympathize with all these afflicted ones, and 
know full well that no relief can be found save 
in Him who, having been the God of the hus- 
band and father, is now the widow's God, and a 
father to the fatherless. 

a It is a sad day to the church of which our 
brother was the pastor. Few churches are 
blessed with pastors of so much common 
sense, quiet earnestness, and fervent piety. It 
is not, however, for me to proceed on this theme, 
nor increase the despondency of the hour ; but 
I may 'express the deep sympathy of other 
churches, and the earnest prayer that even this 
irreparable loss may be overruled for their good. 
But it is a sacl day to other churches, and for 
all the christian and benevolent enterprises and 
institutions of the city, which shared so largely 
his love and labors. He belonged not exclu- 
sively to one church or denomination, by giving 
himself to God, and to the whole church by the 
will of God, he owned himself a debtor to all. 
In true catholicity he was almost a perfect pat- 
tern : most thoroughly evangelical, sound and 
firm in his own doctrines, truly and conscien- 
tiously denominational; and yet so general 
and impartial in his affections and labors, and 



52 



so perfectly identified with all Christ's people 
and work in the generic duties and relations of 
christian laborers as to make others feel that he 
was not only generous, but a brother and fellow 
laborer. All these christians and churches 
shared his sympathies and prayers, claim a por- 
tion of the treasures left in his life and labor, 
and drop the tear of sorrow over their own 
brother. Benevolent enterprises have lost a 
faithful worker; and especially in behalf of 
Hillsdale college, which honored itself in honor- 
ing him, may I express our grief in the loss of 
a sound scholar, a faithful trustee, and a true 
friend. 

"And it is a sad day to the people at large. 
As a christian citizen and member of society 
Dr. Gallaher was highly esteemed. He had 
many positive traits, and yet avoiding those ex- 
tremes which often accompany such traits, dis- 
figuring the individual and marring society, he 
developed a symmetrical social force that com- 
manded the respect of the people. Pleasant 
and cheerful without levity, earnest and solemn 
without melancholy, free and familiar without 
being obtrusive, bold and fearless without ego- 
tism, simple and plain without the least uncouth- 
ness, kind and obliging and yet never swerving 
from convictions of truth and right. The sym- 
metry of his social character was wonderful, 



53 



and no marvel that everybody loved him ; and 
that even those who denied his doctrines and re- 
fused to practice his instructions honored his integ- 
rity. The most wicked man in town knew that 
Mr. Gallaher was an honest man and a friend to 
all, the presence and appearance of this large 
audience, made up from all churches, societies, 
and classes, is but a fair and spontaneous ex- 
pression of public sympathy and public sorrow. 

"But while it is a sad day to us all, it is never- 
theless a day of solemn joy and of christian tri- 
umph. The people have a rich legacy left to 
them in the good example, faithful instructions 
and excellent spirit of their departed friend. 
The goodness of the life given to them may be 
made a richer blessing by the impressiveness of 
this hour if suitably improved. The christian 
public have another encouragement to their 
faith and hope in the glorious power of the gos- 
pel as seen in this triumphant death. The be- 
reaved church may be thankful for the years of 
faithful labor they have had, and rejoice that 
the Gocl who has promised that his word shall 
accomplish its design, will see that all these 
years of useful labor shall now be placed in the 
great current of divine goodness which is to 
flow on through all time for human welfare. 
And even the afflicted family and relations have 
great sources of comfort. From his life they 



54 



have inestimable riches treasured up in the 
store-house of memory, and although this de- 
partment of the spirit temple may always be 
hung in dark drapery and never visited without 
sadness, yet exhaustless good may be drawn 
from its dark recesses. And then the sweet and 
glorious change experienced by the loved one 
gone ! He suffered pain, but is now relieved. 
He said he was weary of earth and its evils, 
but he is now at rest. He struggled against 
temptation and sin, but is now forever safe and 
holy. As we loved him we rejoice in his hap- 
piness and glorification; and the glorious prom- 
ise of eternal life now renewedly vindicated, 
comes to each of these mourners promising a 
happy reunion very soon. Even now that freed 
spirit floating in the light of the Father's own 
glory where there is no night, nor sorrow, nor 
sin, beckons the afflicted to faith, and hope, and 
heaven. With the presence of man's Saviour, 
the orphan's father, the widow's God, and the 
christian's hope, relief is possible in the darkest 
hour, and heaven is sure at last." 

The concluding prayer was offered by Rev. 
J, A. Eanney, after which the hymn, which the 
dying pastor had delighted in, which in the 
parting hour had borne him up to the helping 
Saviour, was sung — 



55 



My faith looks up to Thee, 
Thou Lamb of Calvary, 

Saviour divine ! 
Now hear me while I pray, 
Take all my guilt away, 
Oh ! let me from this day 

Be wholly Thine. 

May Thy rich grace impart 
Strength to my fainting heart, 

My zeal inspire ; 
As Thou hast died for me, 
Oh ! may my love to Thee 
Pure, warm, and changeless be, 

A living fire. 

While life's dark maze I tread, 
And griefs around me spread 

Be Thou my guide ; 
Bid darkness turn to day, 
Wipe sorrow's tears away, 
Nor let me ever stray 

From Thee aside. 

When ends life's transient dream, 
When death's cold sullen stream 

Shall o'er me roll, 
Blest Saviour ! then, in love, 
Fear and distrust remove ; 
Oh ! bear me safe above, 

A ransomed soul. 



After singing the hymn the procession was 
formed, which followed to the cemetery, and 
tenderly committed to the grave and to Him 
who has 66 hallowed every bed," the body of the 



56 



beloved Gallaher. The quiet of the city, the 
stillness of the sunset air, the solemn tread 
of the mourning procession, with the touching 
peals of the tolling bells, all joined in befitting 
testimony to the value of the life just closed. 
And as we turned away from that new tomb, it 
was with the sweet thought of "The pitcher 
broken at the fountain " — the pas' or dying on 
duty. We could but say — 

" Go to thy grave in all thy glorious prime ! 

In full activity of zeal and power ; 
A christian cannot die before his time ; 

The Lord's appointment is the servant's hour. 

"Go to thy grave ; at noon from labor cease ; 

Rest on thy sheaves, thy harvest task is done ; 
Come from the heat of battle, and in peace, 

Soldier ! go home ; with thee the fight is won, 

"Go to thy grave, which, faithful to its trust, 

The germ of immortality shall keep ; 
While, safe as watched by cherubim, thy dust 

Shall to the judgment day in Jesus sleep. 

"Go to the grave, for there thy Saviour lay 
In death's embraces, e'er He rose on high ; 

And all the ransomed, by that narrow way, 
Pass to eternal life beyond the sky. 

"Go to thy grave ? no, take thy seat above ! 

Be thy pure spirit present with the Lord, 
Where thou for faith and hope hast perfect love, 

And open vision for the written word." 



MEMORIAL SERVICES. 



6 



MEMORIAL MEETING. 

Many were present at the funeral services in 
the afternoon who would have given expression 
to their sympathy with the family of Mr. Galla- 
her, and with the church now bereaved, but the 
time was so limited that no suitable opportunity 
could be given for the presentation of such 
thoughts as the day had awakened. Hence a 
memorial meeting was appointed for the even- 
ing, to be held in the Presbyterian church. At 
the hour appointed the house was filled. 

Eev. Wm. C. Porter of Coldwater, by request, 
took charge of the meeting. 

After singing an appropriate hymn Mr. Porter 
read portions of Ps. cxvi th , also of xxi th and xxii nd 
chapters of Bevelation, and offered prayer. In 
a few brief remarks he alluded to the solemn 
and affecting circumstances under which the con- 
gregation had met. The form so familiar in that 
place was with them no more. The voice which 
had so often been heard in that house during 
the years past was now silent. We were there 
to mingle our tears with the afflicted people, 
and to join with them in the prayer that he 
who had smitten would heal. The members of 
Presbytery and brethren from other churches 
present would make such use of the hour as 



60 



the occasion and their own feelings would 
prompt. 

After prayer had been offered again. Rev. A. 
Scofield, the oldest member of the Presbytery, 
and long a missionary in the state, very 
touchingly alluded to the mysterious provi- 
dence which had removed Dr. Gallaher from 
such a post of usefulness, in the vigor of life, 
while he (Mr. S.) was yet left to toil a little 
longer. God had passed by the aged and se- 
lected this young brother, the strong man of 
the Presbytery. Mr. Scofiekl paid a deserved 
tribute to the many excellent and manly traits 
of character which had adorned the life of the 
deceased pastor. 

Prof. H. E. Whipple of Hillsdale College said, 
"I feel a delicacy in rising to occupy time in 
this meeting, which might seem more properly 
to belong to those who stood nearer in ecclesi- 
astical relation to the deceased, but I may be 
pardoned for saying a few words, for we are all 
mourners here to-night. 

"Our departed brother belonged not exclusive- 
ly to this church, or Presbytery, or denomination, 
but to all, irrespective of sect or race. Few in- 
deed are the families in this community who 
have not personal reasons for sorrow on this 
mournful occasion. It is but a few weeks since 
he came to the bedside of my aged father and 



61 



cheered his closing hours of life with songs of 
praise and the voice of prayer. Acknowledg- 
ments of a similar character would be made by 
many tongues, could they find utterance here 
this evening. 

"But not of his amiable, affectionate ways in 
private life can I now speak, but I wish to bear 
testimony to his fidelity in the pulpit. There 
he was always true as steel to his God and to 
the interests of his fellow men. Truly might 
he say, could he rise this moment in that 
vacant pulpit, ' I have not shunned to declare 
unto you all the counsel of God.' There is not 
a man alive who can say that in his preaching 
he ever lowered the claims of the gospel, or 
failed to apply its teachings with unswerving 
fidelity to all human relations. 

" No one ever left this house uncertain how the 
preacher stood upon the questions he discussed. 
In this solemn hour, this church and congrega- 
tion have the proud consciousness that the 
Presbyterian pulpit of Hillsdale, in the last 
eight eventful years, never gave an uncertain 
sound upon the momentous issues which con- 
vulsed society. 

" When^in the dark hour of her peril, the coun- 
try called upon her sons to speak out against 
secession and treason, from this pulpit came the 
rallying cry for God and liberty. When mem- 
6* 



62 



bers of his own church and congregation, ani- 
mated by his patriotic voice, went forth under 
the stars and stripes to meet the foe, he followed 
them to the hospital and trenches with nourish- 
ment for body and soul. When the groans of 
the slave were heard this pulpit was a swift wit- 
ness against the oppressor's mighty wrong. 
When the wail of despair came from the deso- 
late home of the drunkard, the quick response 
from this pulpit was hope for the victim, and 
the wrath of heaven for the destroyer. 

"And now that he has ended his labors, and 
we shall see his noble form no more in that 
sacred place, we can say in our heart of hearts, 

u Servant of God well clone/' 

In his case we have a fulfillment of that prom- 
ise, 6 Them that honor me will I honor.' For 
fifty years this family name has been in the 
records of the Presbyterian General Assembly 
of the United States. In 1819 Eev. Jas. Galla- 
her was a member of the general assembly, and 
F. R. Gallaher was a member in 1869. Had 
the life of our brother been spared, he would 
doubtless have been called to still more conspic- 
uous pulpit labors. Said President Finney to 
me last year — 6 1 am casting about for some one 
to recommend as my successor in the pulpit, for 
my preaching is nearly done ; and I have had 



63 



Mr. Gallaher in mind as one whom the Lord 
is raising up to fill the place.' 

" Xow, I am sure the Oberlin congregation is 
not surpassed in intellectual and moral weight by 
any congregation on this continent. But it has 
pleased the Lord to take him away from us, and 
it becomes us to reverently bow to His holy 
will" 

Prayer was again offered, when Mr. John 
Chandler, elder in the Presbyterian church at 
Cold water, arose and said — "In the death of Dr. 
Gallaher, the sorrowing widow and orphan chil- 
dren, though their grief is poignant, are not 
the only stricken ones. Nor is the loss confined 
to the church of which he has long been the 
honored pastor, nor to the city of his residence 
which has lost a star, nor to the Presbytery of 
which he was the central figure — the Saul in 
mental and spiritual power among his brethren. 

(*' Death loves a shining mark.") 

But in his death neighboring churches have lost 
an ardent and able defender, and advocate of 
Christ's precious gospel. The churches of south- 
ern Michigan are mourners to-day. And we 
of the Presbyterian church of Coldwater have 
felt the blow, and have come to mingle our sor- 
rows with yours. 

" From the hour of our first acquaintance we 
have known him only to love him. His great 



64 



heart embraced us all, and he was ever a wel- 
come guest in our city, and at our firesides. We 
offer you our sympathy and condolence, and 
pray God to sanctify to you and to us this great 
bereavement. 

" Upon the lifeless breast of the sainted Dr. 
Payson were placed, legibly written, these mem- 
orable words — -Remember how he spake unto 
you when he was yet with you ' — fit admonition 
to every one who came to take their farewell 
look at his sacred dust. In the same language 
would we exhort you on this mournful occasion. 
Remember ! christian, remember his gracious 
words to you — his words of hope and cheer in 
your despondency — his words of consolation in 
your bereavement — his words of promise drawn 
from the word of God, and be grateful while 
sorrowful, for the gift to you of such a minister. 
And you who have often listened to his earnest 
appeals in respect to your personal salvation, 
and have hitherto slighted the messages of mer- 
cy which fell from his lips — Oh ! do you remem- 
ber. Remember the outpouring of his soul in 
prayer to heaven for your conversion — his ear- 
nest entreaty in the pulpit, by the way, and 
from house to house, beseeching you in Christ's 
stead to be reconciled to God. Those gracious 
words melting with tenderness you will never 
more hear him utter. But remembering them, 



65 



and heeding them even now, you may be saved. 
And thus this beloved servant of God shall be- 
come to you as one that, though dead, yet 
speaks. So doing, he, like Samson, by God's 
blessing shall slay more in his death than in his 
life." 

Eev. J. A. Eanney, pastor of the church at 
Three Eivers, whose relations to the deceased in 
all the work of the Presbytery for the past 
eight years were very intimate, spoke as fol- 
lows — 

" Dear brethren and friends, it is a sad afflic- 
tion that calls us togetfnr on this occasion. As 
I look on that pulpit draped in mourning, I 
think of the loss sustained by this church and 
community. But in the death of this loved 
and honored pastor I feel that I have lost a 
brother. We have been intimately associated 
as members of this presbytery for eight years. 
We have exchanged pulpits. I have been a 
guest at his house, and he has been a guest, 
very welcome, at mine. We have been com- 
panions in traveling to and from meetings of 
Synod. I have known him to be a brother 
of warm heart and strong sympathies. We 
found a general agreement in our views of chris- 
tian truth, and the great moral questions that 
have agitated the church and nation. During 
the war each of us felt impelled by a like sym- 



66 



pathy for our soldiers, to give our services, for a 
season, to the Christian Commission. Our fel- 
lowship has been brotherly and without a jar. 
At our last meeting of the Presbytery, after a 
free expression of views, I assured him that he 
should have my vote and influence to elect him 
a commissioner to the general assembly at New 
York. He filled that commission, and after his 
return was able to preach only one sermon to 
his people. 

"But another fact has made me feel a special 
brotherly regard for this lamented pastor. In 
my early ministry, his honored and now sainted 
father was a father to me. During my pioneer 
life, first in Grenada, Miss., where I had gone 
from Vermont to recover my health, then in 
Carlinville and Belleville, Ills., most of the 
people had listened to the eloquent appeals of 
the revivalist, Bev. James Gallaher. Many of 
them had come to Christ under his faithful 
preaching. I first met him and heard his voice 
in songs and sermons at a Presbyterian camp- 
meeting near Springfield, Illinois. I last heard 
him in an earnest speech, not long previous to 
his death, delivered before the General Assembly 
in Washington city. For that father, the father 
of our deceased brother Frederick B. Gallaher, 
I had a filial respect and love. 

" Some years ago I was in Cincinnati, and 



67 



improved the opportunity to visit Lane Semin- 
ary. I went out to Walnut Hills for that pur- 
pose. It was during a vacation, and the semin- 
ary buildings were nearly vacant. But I found 
a young brother, a student in the seminary, who 
had the keys, and very kindly conducted me 
through the various rooms. In conversation 
with him I learned that his name was Gallaher, 
and that Eev. James Gallaher was his father. 
This discovery made me feel at once a nearness 
to him. It seemed as if we had been long ac- 
quainted. When our Synod met in Hillsdale 
eight years ago, I found that student on the 
ground beginning his useful labors as pastor of 
this church. From that day to the day of his 
death we have been brothers in this Presbytery. 
In the bereavement of his family, of this 
church, and the city of Hillsdale, I feel a j>er- 
sonal affliction. We all know that he lived for 
Christ, and preached Christ, It was his most 
intense desire to see the youth and business 
men of Hillsdale living and believing in Christ. 
His heart of tenderness was felt at the bedside 
of sickness and death. As he stood by the dy- 
ing bed of one of the Saviour's lambs a few 
months ago, he held her hand in his and sung 
and prayed, while the spirit went to be with 
Jesus. 0, may you, the members of this 
church, and the men of business not christians, 



68 



and the dear youth, all heed the words of faithful- 
ness which he spoke while living. May we, 
the ministers of this presbytery, take this warn- 
ing to ourselves, and improve more diligently 
the brief time that we have to work for the 
Master." 

After singing a portion of the hymn 
" Nearer, my God, to Thee," 

Mr. Lyman P. Alden of Quincy, a classmate of 
Dr. Gallaher's in the seminary, led the congre- 
gation in a very solemn and tender prayer. 

Rev. Mr. Barnes of Quincy — whom Mr. Gal- 
laher had encouraged to enter the work of the 
ministry, and who felt himself deeply indebted 
to him for counsel, example, and that light 
which his beautiful life was ever giving out to 
those around him — then said, " I hardly thought 
to say a word, and yet I cannot but say a word. 
Brethren speak, some of losing a friend and 
brother, others of losing a friend and pastor. 
But I have lost more — I have lost a father. 
About two years since I came to this place a 
stranger. The object for which I came required 
me to form the acquaintance of the deceased. 
I called on him on a pleasant evening, and was 
received with that direct and simple kindness 
which was so characteristic of him. I made 
known my wants and went from his presence 
feeling that I had enlisted the sympathies of a 



69 



whole heart. At the same time I saw that 
those sympathies were under the control of the 
coolest judgment. He read me — read me for 
days, and as if finally convinced gave the word, 
c go on — receive every providence with favor — 
go work in the vineyard of the Lord.' So given 
were these words, such the tone, such the whole 
bearing of the man, that I felt as I perhaps had 
never felt before — my course is onward, right 
onward ; I must deviate neither to the right 
nor the left, nor must I long delay. And during 
these two years hardly a month, hardly a week 
I may say, has passed, but I have had occasion 
to receive his counsel, and with what profit to 
myself and increasing love for him I have no 
words to tell. 

" He had a wealth of heart I have seldom 
seen. His soul was a complete sphere. It was 
not full on this side that it might be empty on 
that. No bigotry flattened, no low ambition 
shriveled it. It was girt with the zone of the 
tropics, and yet outrage and wrong came within 
its influence only to be congealed. It was in 
every way positive. Like a diamond seen from 
whatever side it sent back light. 

u I have already intimated that his judgment 
was imperious over his sympathies. Perhaps it 
was his weakness that he held himself in with 
too rigorous a hand. He so detested cant that 
7 



70 



it has more than once occurred to me when 
hearing him preach that he was at positive 
pains to keep his reasoning from taking fire ? 
lest those who heard should be captivated with 
the glare, rather than penetrated with the heat. 
Like his general character, indeed, his preaching 
was direct, unaffected, truthful, earnest. It is 
hard to say whether it most interested old or 
young. Seeing him at no one time, in no one 
place, could you discern the secret of his power. 
In order to that, you must hear him from the 
desk, see him in the sabbath school, and prayer 
and conference room, and know him as a friend. 
His power lay not so much in turning forces 
from channels already formed — worn deep in 
the rock of habit — as in directing those forces 
at their fountain into channels which should 
need no change. The work he did was so un- 
ostentatiously done that the fittest measure of 
his worth is the vacancy we see and feel now 
that he is gone. Oh, my friends, he has gone ! 
and that against which every heart leaned for 
support is gone also. Under this great bereave- 
ment let us bow and reverently acknowledge 
the chastening hand. 

Ci And shall it be that from that desk we shall 
hear his voice no more ? Aye, we need not 
thus repine, for from all the fields of memory 
his voice shall sound, as terrible as the wailing 



Tl 



of the blast, as subduing as the sobbings of the 
rain, and as gladsome as the summer brook 
dashing o'er its pebbly bed — from all the fields 
of memory his voice shall come, urging us to a 
higher life. 

Cl More than once within the year now passed 
have I heard him say, <I am weary, I need rest' 
Rest now, great soul, in the plenitude of 
eternal joy ! The rest this world denied thee, 
a better world has vouchsafed. We would not 
hold thee back, for our loss is thy gain. Thou 
thyself art gone, but thy life is left a luminous 
argument. We may toil to imitate thy virtues, 
and of thee, in due submission, say — 

'And I am glad that he has lived thus long, 
And glad that he has gone to his reward ; 

Nor can I deem kind nature did him wrong, 
Slightly to disengage the vital cord.'" 

In referring to the precious legacy left 
to this church in the life and labors of him 
who had gone to rest, I said — " It must be a 
thought of deep and solemn interest to this 
people that he who ministered to them has 
gone from their very midst to his reward. His 
activities here have terminated in those higher 
activities which bring neither pain nor weari- 
ness. God has joined houses with you, and your 
beloved pastor has only stepped from this house 
into our Father's, where are the many mansions. 



72 



It is but a few months since he wrote me, on the 
death of our boy, 6 Heaven will be nearer now 
than before.' These words, so true, I may now 
repeat to you his people — 6 Heaven will be 
nearer now than before.' Your Father's house 
is hard by. The doors have opened into this 
sanctuary, and with their opening your pastor 
went. We are looking thitherward through 
blinding tears. Not far away are all who have 
gone before us, and Jesus too is there. For 
them and all who believe it is written — i and 
they shall see His face.' Brethren, the end is 
near, very near. Heaven is near — never so near 
as at this moment. Eealize it all in your toil 
and especially in this hour of your deep sor- 
row." 

Mr. Gr. H. Botsford, a member of the Hillsdale 
church, and for several years superintendent of 
the sabbath school, hence very intimately asso- 
ciated with his departed pastor in those labors 
which had just terminated, said : 

" As the members of the session will no doubt 
speak of the deceased in regard to themselves 
and the church, it may not be out of place for 
me to speak of one of the prominent points in 
his character, which might otherwise remain 
unnoticed. His brethren in the ministry may 
not have had opportunity for discovering the 
secret of his power over the young. Intimately 



73 



associated with him during more than half the 
time of his ministry among us, his character 
was carefully studied. He loved the children. 
He delighted in work for their welfare. The 
fact that so nearly all the additions to the church 
on profession of their faith were members of 
the sabbath school, shows that he was indeed 
the children's pastor. Yet he did very little 
work in the school, seldom saying anything, not 
once a year hearing a class. Always present in- 
deed, when he could be, a listener, a watcher 
with a special object in view. The work of im- 
parting a knowledge of God's word, of leading 
the children and youth to a familiarity with the 
teachings of the scriptures, he very properly 
left with the members of the church. At the 
same time he was well acquainted with the sub- 
jects taught from week to week. By frequent 
conversations with the superintendent, and by 
his presence in the school, he was familiar with 
the leading thoughts that were depended upon 
to interest and impress the pupils. Knowing as 
he did that a very large majority of sabbath 
school workers aim mainly to store the minds 
of their classes with a knowledge of God's 
word, to impart divine truth so that the mind 
shall seize upon and retain it, brother Gallaher 
made it his business to carry this knowledge 
and these truths to the conscience and the heart. 
7* 



MEMOBIAL SERMOX* 



The sorrows of the past few days have taught 
rne some things not so well understood before. 

o 

The grief of David tor his brother Jonathan 
never contained so much of tenderness and 
beautv as I find in it this morning. Those two 
men had been one in purpose, life, and sympa- 
thy. Their acquaintance, labors, and mutual 
dangers had begotten and cemented a friendship 
the most beautiful of anything this side the 
world of perfect loves. For a few years they 
had walked together, coming up to. and laying 
then hands upon the serious work of life. But 
suddenly Jonathan reached the end of his jour- 
ney. He broke away from earthly toil, his feet 
were lifted up to the higher activities of the 
next life. David wondered and wept, and his 
heart broke forth in the language of passionate 
love for his brother. - The beauty of Israel is 
slain upon thy high places : how are the mighty 
fallen 1 * * * The bow of Jonathan turned 
not back. How are the mighty fallen in the 



♦Preached by Rev. S. E. Wishard, on the second Sabbath after 
Mr. Gallaher's death. 



MEMORIAL SERMON* 



The sorrows of the past few days have taught 
me some things not so well understood before. 
The grief of David for his brother Jonathan 
never contained so much of tenderness and 
beaut v as I find in it this morning. Those two 
men had been one in purpose, life, and sympa- 
thy. Their acquaintance, labors, and mutual 
dangers had begotten and cemented a friendship 
the most beautiful of anything this side the 
world of perfect loves. For a few years they 
had walked together, coming up to, and laying 
their hands upon the serious work of life. But 
suddenly Jonathan reached the end of his jour- 
ney. He broke away from earthly toil, his feet 
were lifted up to the higher activities of the 
next life. David wondered and wept, and his 
heart broke forth in the language of passionate 
love for his brother. " The beauty of Israel is 
slain upon thy high places : how are the mighty 
fallen ! # * * The bow of Jonathan turned 
not back. How are the mighty fallen in the 



*Preached by Rev. S. E. Wishard, on the second Sabbath after 
Mr. Gallaher's death. 



78 



midst of the battle ! Jonathan, thou wast 
slain in thine high places. ■ I am distressed for 
thee, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant hast 
thou been unto me ; thy love to me was won- 
derful, passing the love of women" To-day 
this inspired picture of a great sorrow has in it 
lines of beauty and tenderness which I have 
only just learned to understand. 

I am called this morning to speak of one 
whose life had come to be almost a part of my 
own. "Very pleasant hast thou been unto me, 
(my brother,) thy love to me was wonderful." 
For almost sixteen years we have walked 
together. But now he has gone before me, a 
little way, as he always did, and has left me to 
say a few words to this people of his love. It 
is therefore becoming that I should forget my- 
self, and my own sorrow, if possible, in these 
memorial words concerning brother Gallaher. 

I will not attempt to give you a minute his- 
tory of his life, but will try to present him as 
he was before you in this field of toil, and in 
this pulpit. I have therefore chosen, as appro- 
priate to the occasion, the words of scripture 
found in 

LUKE xxiv : 6. "remember how he spake unto you." 

These were grateful words to the mourning 
hearts at the sepulchre of Jesus, and just such 
as we might expect from the two shining ones. 



79 



The sorrowing women were drawn to the spot 
where the Lord had been entombed. But Jesus 
was not there. And the two messengers whom 
He had placed there to speak for Him, said to 
them " Why seek ye the living among the dead ? 
He is not here, He is risen: remember how He 
spake unto you, while He was yet in Galilee." 

And now I know that many times your weep- 
ing eyes and loving thoughts have turned 
toward that cemetery, since we laid your dear 
pastor there. I come to say to you, "He is not 
there — but is risen." Only the frail body in 
which he did his work has its habitation in the 
dust. The soul that animated the body is doubt- 
less with Him who redeemed it, And while you 
may not see his form again in this pulpit, made 
sacred to you now by the memories of the past 
and the sorrows of the present; while you may 
not hear his voice again, comforting, helping 
you, you can "Remember how he sjKike unto you 
while he ivas yet loith you^ Through the chan- 
nels of memory, affection finds the way back to 
the past, and over it all. The ministry of such 
a pastor for eight years, has left material for re- 
membrance. It has left a permanent better- 
ment of the moral visage of your city. As you 
pass about these streets you will see, for many 
years, where his moulding hand has been. And 
the children coming after you will be the inher- 



80 



itors of the blessings given to yon in such a 
ministry. "A good man leave th an, inheritance 
to his children's children." Certainly, then, no 
memorial words could be more befitting to-day, 
than these of the text— 

" Remember how he spake unto you — " 
1. How s c riptur ally — with what scriptural ut- 
terances he came unto you. His pulpit themes 
were not plucked from among the stars in the 
heavens, nor dug from any earthly profundities 
— they were Bible themes, the sweet truths of 
the living oracles. Your pastor having found 
life for himself here in the word of God, sought 
to bring these saving truths to you. The words 
which he spake were impregnated with the 
authority which none but biblical preachers can 
ever wield. While he kept abreast with the 
advanced thought of the age, laying under con- 
tribution, and working up in his pulpit ministra- 
tions, the surrounding material with which God 
has so abundantly furnished the ministry, yet 
he so put everything through the biblical 
mould, that it came to you with the scriptural 
stamp upon it. 

You heard from him not only Bible themes, 
but Bible arguments, illustrations and exposi- 
tions. He brought to you from this treasury 
words of truth, and life, and power. You had 
meat to eat, not fancies to stare at — food and 



81 



nourishment, not dainties and starvation. His 
ministry wrought out for you, and gave utter- 
ance to those words, which were full of grace 
and truth, when first spoken by the Master 
Himself. Your pastor had the good fortune to 
have his mental habits in early life brought 
under the power of scripture education. His 
father, Eev. James Gallaher, had few if any 
equals, in that rare gift of making every subject 
he touched glow with light from the Bible. The 
son, having caught his father's enthusiasm over 
the wealth of thought and illustration, which 
this book affords, carried that enthusiasm into 
this pulpit, and out of his own experience of 
the life and power of the word enriched you 
with its messages of truth. You remember 

2. How wisely he spake to you, adapting his 
ministry to the immediate wants of this people. 
He never amused himself by cultivating imag- 
inary fields at a distance from home. One of 
the strong points of our dear brother was his 
large endowment of common sense. He saw 
the people before him, and he addressed himself 
to their immediate wants. He wisely chose 
such subjects as you needed. Adaptation to 
times and seasons, to states of the public mind, 
to the weak who needed strength, to the dark- 
ened who needed light, indeed to all the varied 
wants of his flock, showed a wisdom both rare 
8 



82 



and valuable. Having chosen such subjects he 
thoroughly mastered them, put himself in pos- 
session of the strong points of thought and 
argument, so that his words from this place 
were words of wisdom. The ease and rapidity 
with which he grasped a subject that took hold 
upon his heart was remarkable. That which 
cost his classmates in the seminary earnest and 
protracted toil, he seemed to lay his hands upon 
at once, almost without an effort. And while 
in health, before God had "weakened his strength 
by the way," it was his custom to complete 
thoroughly his preparation for the pulpit in the 
early part of the week. Hence he came before 
you with no crudities, no half developed 
thoughts, no semi-religious platitudes, no good- 
ish talk. He brought you sound thought, wise- 
ly chosen, thoroughly mastered, and clothed in 
a style becoming the place and the ends he 
sought. With such wisdom did he speak to you 
that even those whom he pressed to the wall, who 
went away wounded and bleeding, the arrows 
of truth deeply fastened in the soul, could but 
love the man who had smitten them down. 
And to-day they mourn because they can never 
again take the hand that so mightily hurled 
upon them the weapons of truth. Also, 

3. How earnestly your beloved pastor spoke 
while he was yet with you,you will long remember. 



83 



His very soul, and life, as the result has proved, 
weut out to you in the earnest words which have 
been addressed to you during the years of his 
ministry. For he was a man of convictions. 
He entertained decided opinions on all subjects, 
and especially on those points which concerned 
the moral well being of his people. He knew 
Avhat he believed; and he believed it, with all 
the strength of his clear faculties. Whoever 
else could live in uncertainty and indefiniteness 
respecting the great and ever present facts of 
life, he could not. His were Grod-given convic- 
tions. Hence there was no uncertainty about 
them — they inspired an earnestness correspond- 
ing to their depth. 

An incident in his student life gave a new 
and lasting impulse to his convictions concerning 
his duty. Rev. Charles G. Finney was holding 
a series of meetings in the third Presbyterian 
church in the winter of 1853 and 54, in which he 
so wonderfully mingled law and gospel as to 
make sinners tremble, and christians feel about 
them again for the foundations. Many of the 
students from Lane Theological Seminary at- 
tended these meetings. At the close of a very 
searching sermon, several members of our class, 
including brother Gallaher, went into the in- 
quiry meeting. Mr. Finney, in his conversa- 
tions with one and another, coming to brother 



84 



Gallaher, said — " Who is this ? " He was informed 
who it was. "A son of James Gallaher?" "Yes 
sir." Affectionately putting his arms around 
him he said—" My brother ! what are you doing 
here? Don't you know that Jesus died for 
you? He has saved you. You have nothing to 
do but to take His yolce and follow Him. Leave 
the whole matter of your salvation to Him, and 
never trouble yourself about it again. Do you 
live for God, trusting all to Jesus." It was " the 
old, old story," but it came like a new evangel. 
Brother Gallaher grasped it, and went to work 
anew for the Master. It was almost like a new 
conversion. And in the struggle of life since, he 
has frequently told me that he was leaving all 
to Jesus — it was in good hands — he should not 
trouble himself about it — it was settled that 
Jesus had died for him and that was enough — 
he would work for Christ and trust Him to do 
the work of saving his soul. 

Hence the earnestness with which he brought 
the messages of life to you. He had given 
himself into the hands of the Redeemer, and 
thus laid over on Him who has promised to take 
it, and Who alone is able, to take it, the care of 
his own soul. And he could give all his ener- 
gies to making known the proclamation of di- 
vine love. How earnestly he did it these saved 
ones can testify. He sought nothing short of 



85 



your salvation — " not yours but you." None 
who sat under his ministry, who remember to- 
day how he spake unto you, ever suspected him 
for seeking any of the small ambitions that 
sometimes crowd into the pulpit. Not to please 
you, not to gratify you simply, did that dear 
brother come before you year after year, with 
those earnest words of argument and entreaty. 
He sought to take hold of you with the grasp 
of God's precious truth, to lift you out of feeble 
conviction and doubt, and place you upon the 
solid ground of faith and experience. He ear- 
nestly sought to lift these business men up to 
the noble position of holding themselves and 
their means at Christ's disposal. 

You remember, brethren, how earnestly he 
has often begged you to enter the enjoyments, 
the wealth of privilege which is to-day set be- 
fore the christian men of means. None of 
these pleadings were made by halves. He em- 
phasized them with all the earnestness of his 
sincere life. You will long remember also 

4. How tenderly and lovingly he communi- 
cated to you all the words of this life. He de- 
sired to bless you, to impart to you the riches 
of the gospel because he loved these souls which 
God had committed to him. Sometimes he saw 
so clearly the danger to which they were ex- 
posed, and his convictions were so powerful that 
8* 



86 



his affections were deeply stirred. You may 
have mistaken for a moment the vehemence 
of his love for severity. But you who knew 
him best, knew that his devotion to your 
highest good was that which moved him to 
press the probe down to the tenderest spot in 
the wound. As a faithful and skillful surgeon 
he deemed the most searching and effective ser- 
mons the best. And though you sometimes 
cried out under the pain of the operation, yet 
the glow of health which soon followed always 
convinced you that you were in the hands of a 
man who consulted your interest rather than 
your pleasure. And now as you look back over 
the past you hear in every sound of his voice ? 
and feel in every pressure of his hand the warmth 
of that heart that carried you day and night 
before God as a part of its earthly burden. 

You remember how tenderly he spake to the 
aged, both in and out of the pulpit, how he en- 
tered into sympathy with those who were ready 
to quit their hold upon life here, how in the 
counsel and comfort which he gave them he 
was continually living beyond his years. 

Also what loving admonitions he gave to the 
young, how their enthusiasm was his, their joy 
in every lawful good found a response in him, 
and how by this power he won them, held and 
controlled them, you will not forget. How 



87 



deeply and touchingly he could enter into the 
sorrows which God has given to these families, 
will be an ever present remembrance with you. 
For he knew affliction — he had passed under the 
rod. The loving father had touched him at the 
tenderest point, and in a most mysterious way, 
But the dark clouds were full of the moisture 
of divine love, and as they dropped it upon his 
soul we could see him enriched, enlarged, and 
made ready for all the varied work of a pastor. 
The afflictions which he endured made the grasp 
of his cordial hand warmer to you, deepened 
and widened the channel of his love for the 
suffering ones. Hence he could sit with you 
when the shadows were darkening in your home, 
and could bring you "apples of gold in pictures 
of silver," when you were bewildered with grief 
— could bring to you the balm of Gileacl when 
the death angel was plucking the choice flowers 
from this garden of the Lord. And when from 
the battle-field and the prison-house your man- 
gled and dying ones were returned to you, your 
loving pastor shared your grief. You ever felt 
his strong arms about you, and heard from him 
honest, true, and loving words. You could en- 
dure more, make larger sacrifices because of the 
help he gave you. Whatever others said or 
failed to say, whatever they felt' or failed to feel, 
there was one earnest soul bowed with you, 



88 



thinking of you, helping and comforting you. 
Your pastor's heart was with the heart of every 
father and mother, with every wife and sister who 
gave precious gifts to our country in the hour of 
her need. And it will be a lasting joy to some 
of you, that as God called you to those sacrifices, 
He gave you a pastor who could take part with 
you in your griefs and sufferings. Linked with 
this love and tenderness with which he lived 
and taught among you, you remember 

5. How simply he spake, with what child-like 
nature he went about his work. There was no 
flourish of trumpets, no stage performances. 
He most thoroughly and righteously despised 
all the tricks of sensationalism, all the bombast 
of empty rhetoric, the ribbons and starch pro- 
fessional. 

In the hour of his death he could have said 
with Paul — "I was with you in weakness and in 
fear, and in much trembling. And my speech 
and my preaching was not with enticing words 
of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the 
spirit, and of power." No man was ever further 
from reliance on the popular effect of tinselry. 
Indeed I think he would have gone the journey 
of half a life-time to get away from the lumber 
of mere style and staging. He deemed that 
truth, simple truth well brought out, and clear- 
ly put, was to be the great instrumentality for 



89 



good — that its attractions lay beyond the ver- 
biage with which it is sometimes crippled, and 
effectually hindered. He relied upon the sword 
of the spirit; and instead of swaggering before 
you with a large display of sash, and belt, and 
buckle, and scabbard, with an undrawn instru- 
ment dangling at his side, he came here with the 
naked blade, firmly grasped, keenly whetted in 
the closet and study, and powerfully wielded by 
the strong hand of logic and love. And there is 
probably not a member of his congregation who 
has not at some time felt the power of his steel. 

Yes, he was simple as a child, in his nature, 
and in his manner of presenting truth. With 
this nature he saw through all shams and pre- 
tenses. And with a skill as delicate as it was 
genial and original, a flash of his quiet humor 
has often suddenly terminated the flight of cer- 
tain social and ecclesiastical orators. His humor 
was electrical, and was of the kind that made peo- 
ple morally and physically better, that brought 
the foolish to their senses, and taught wise men 
to think and act more wisely. It had its place at 
the fireside, in the social meeting, and wherever 
minds mingled freely. As other gifts, it was 
subordinated to the honor of Him who bestowed 
it. The simplicity of Mr. Gallaher's social and 
professional life opened to him a wide door in the 
affections and confidence of the people. It en- 



90 



tirely relieved his public and private labors from 
the stiff and chilling formality which too often 
puts a pastor out of sympathy and out of con- 
tact with his people. 

6. How faithfully he spake, you remember. 
He clearly saw the sins of the times, the for- 
mality and covetousness that are destroying the 
vitality of the churches. Intimately as you 
knew him, you perhaps never understood the 
solicitude which he felt for this church, and 
for the churches of our country, in view of 
the low standard of consecration which charac- 
terizes so many business men who wear the name 
of Christ. Not that he covered up from you any- 
thing which he thought you ought to know. You 
remember that on these points his pulpit never 
gave an uncertain sound. He believed in, he 
experienced, he taught the blessedness of giving. 
He spoke honest, plain words to you on this 
subject, and in his own religious life he practiced 
the principles which he taught. And I have 
occasion to know that his convictions, as to the 
truth and importance of what he taught you, 
deepened with every day of his life. 

He deeply felt, and has solemnly and earnest- 
ly declared it to you, that there were resources 
of wealth among professors of religion, means 
for the powerful advancement of the cause of 
God, which ought not longer to be withheld from 



91 



Christ. He saw clearly the risks before us, nay, 
the certain disasters which must come upon the 
people of God, unless they speedily write the 
name of Jehovah upon all their wealth. He 
did not fail to warn his people of the worthless- 
ness of a profession which does not control the 
wealth which God has given. 

His own experience marked too clearly the 
broad and definite distinction between the form 
of godliness and the power thereof, for him to 
remain silent. Here a^ain he could have said 
to you as Paul said to the elders of the church 
at Ephesus — " Ye know * * * how I kept 
back nothing that was profitable unto you, but 
have showed you and taught you publicly, and 
from house to house # # for I have not 
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of 
God." Faithfully, and without favoritism, our 
dear brother dealt out to you, according to the 
measure of truth which God had given him 
No man's position placed him above or below the 
range of his ministry. No sin was so strongly 
entrenched in popular favor as to escape the 
rebukes and exposures which it merited at his 
hands. It has been well said by Prof. Whipple* 
that on all the moral questions of the day every 
man knew that this pulpit would give a true 
and sound utterance. 



*In the Memorial Meeting. 



92 



7. How firmly he defended the truth as it is 
in Christ. He did not jump at conclusions, was 
not surprised into committals which must be aban- 
doned. His positions were deliberately taken, af- 
ter a careful examination of the premises, and 
when reached were honorably and firmly main- 
tained. He was willing to learn, but, having 
ascertained what duty was, did not need to be 
taught again. His opinions of right and wrong 
were not unsettled by the sophistries of error, 
nor abandoned at the caprice of public opinion- 
Firmly he stood where the word of God placed 
him. "The bow of Jonathan turned not back." 
In every battle which he waged from this pul- 
pit, and everywhere else, his face was toward 
the foe, steadfast to the end. Hence 

8. He spake with power. It could not be other- 
wise. A ministry so scriptural, so wise, so earnest, 
so loving, so simple, so faithful and firm, was 
necessarily a ministry of power. His utterances 
carried conviction to many hearts. It would 
indeed be difficult to understand how candid 
men could sit for eight years under such a min- 
istry, without being "made alive unto God." 
That soul is not to be envied, that is yet un- 
blest by such a ministry, and that has yet to an- 
swer at the bar of God for having rejected all 
the entreaties, all the persuasive power of the 
tongue and life of our beloved Gallaher. For 



93 



some in this congregation, I know that his min- 
istry, by the blessing of God, has kindled immor- 
tal hopes. He found you when he came, in the 
death of sin — having no hope and without God 
in the world. God taught him the way to your 
hearts with the words of life. And when out of 
your convictions you cried — 66 what shall I do ? " 
he pointed you to Jesus — only Jesus — none but 
Jesus. From that tongue, now silent, you re- 
ceived the message which brought the dawn of 
a new and blessed life. 

His ministry has strengthened in others noble 
purposes, which needed the inspiration that God 
enabled him to impart. Others of this flock 
have been helped to die by the power of that 
ministry, of which I have spoken in these me- 
morial words. Your dear pastor has gone as 
far down into the dark valley, with those who 
were passing through, as it was possible for him 
to go, and yet remain on this side. With the 
tenderness of a brother, and with the strength 
of a brother's strong faith, he has stepped to the 
very river's brink, and passed your dying ones 
over into the arms that waited on the other side 
to receive. 0, what a power in such a ministry ! 
What a breadth ! The things he spake were 
not confined to the pulpit, but overflowed, pour- 
ing out their purity and wealth into all the 

social channels of this church and congregation, 
9 



94 



and in unnumbered ways ministering to private 
needs. 

But our beloved brother has ended his labors. 
The visible activities of his ministry have ceased 
from among you, though its silent power will 
yet reach on through the years. For you will 
" remember how he spake unto you." These 
christian husbands and wives will remember, 
these souls also, who have heard but heeded not, 
will remember — now, and in eternity . they will 
remember. These young christians, who have 
learned under his ministry to take the yoke of 
Christ will remember. These children of the 
sabbath school, the lambs of this flock, now shep- 
herdless, cannot forget how he spake unto them. 
These workers in the Young Men's Christian 
Association, and in all the churches of the city, 
will remember. Yes, and the men who come 
not to the house of God, to whom, in their 
places of vice and iniquity, your pastor has 
brought the earnest messages of a Savior's love, 
these men also will remember how he spake 
unto them, how he prayed with and for them, 
how faithfully he warned them. 

Beloved, let this sorrow, which to-day presses 
upon you, be sweetened by the assurance that 
death was only the beginning of life to your 
pastor. We that stay behind are dead, while 
he lives ! The darkness of the grave was but 



95 



the dawn of endless day. His departure was 
his entrance through the gates into the city. 
The mystery of those trials, at which he used to 
wonder, has passed away. He understands now 
why the hand of the Lord rested heavily upon 
him at times here below. And if his utterances 
could break this morning beyond the arches and 
domes of the city of our God, we would hear 
that clear familiar voice saying, 61 Unto Hxm that 
loved us and washed us from our sins in hls own 
blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto 
God and his Father, to Him be glory and domin- 
ion FOREVER AND EVER." 



TWO SERMONS TO HIS PEOPLE 

Preached by Eer. F. R. Gallaher, D. D., during his 
regular pastoral labors. 

I. GLORYING IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 
II. THE CAPTAIN OF OUR SALVATION. 



9* 



I 



GLORYING IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 

TEXT : GAL. VI. 14. 

"But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our 
Lord Jesus Christ." 

Paul was a Jew ; and the Jews were a people 
of remarkably strong prejudices. Paul had been 
brought up and instructed as a Pharisee, the 
strictest among the Jewish sects. According to 
his own declarations, as well as the testimony of 
the Evangelist Luke, in early life he was strong- 
ly wedded to the religion and prejudices of his 
nation; so strongly that he did not hesitate to 
engage in the persecution of the new sect which 
had arisen, and was beginning to encroach on 
his own. 

The cross was known to the Jews only as an 
instrument of torture and death, both cruel and 
disgraceful. Death by crucifixion was a penalty 
unknown to Jewish law. It had been intro- 
duced among them by their heathen conquerors 
and rulers, the Romans. Among the Romans it 
was deemed a punishment too cruel and dis- 
graceful to be inflicted upon a Roman citizen, — 
fit only for slaves and aliens. Thus the cross 



100 



was not only the instrument of cruel torture 
and death, but the symbol of degradation and 
disgrace. 

From our knowledge of the Jewish character 
we may be sure that the cross was not less hate- 
ful to them on account of its having been intro- 
duced among them by their heathen conquerors. 
We can readily understand that of all abomina- 
tions, in their esteem this was the most abom- 
inable. 

The Jews as a nation had probably as much 
in their origin and history of which to glory as 
any other people that ever existed. Each one 
could trace the line of his history straight back 
to the great patriarch Abraham — the friend of 
God. Their whole history was full of the most 
wonderful special favors, and divine interposi- 
tions in their behalf, from Heaven. Numerous 
nations or tribes had been rebuked or over- 
thrown on their account, or made subservient to 
them. Through a long series of ages they had 
worshipped in a tabernacle first, afterwards a tem- 
ple, wherein dwelt the visible token of the Divine 
Presence. To them was committed the keeping 
of the word of God, the oracles of eternal truth. 
Of their nation, it was promised, should arise a 
Mighty Kedeemer and Deliverer, in whom all 
the nations of the earth should be blessed. All 
these things, and others of like character, were 



101 



matters of pride to the Jews ; nor was it strange 
that it should have been so. These facts were 
all familiar to the Jew, Paul. The time had 
been when he gloried in them. But now when 
past the meridian of life, after a varied and re- 
markable experience, he turns from all these 
and pointing to the despised and hated cross, 
exclaims — "There is the object in which I glo- 
ry, in which I boast — God forbid that I should 
glory in aught else." 

This surely is a strange spectacle. But there 
is still another fact to be considered which adds 
to the high coloring of this picture. Among 
all crosses doubtless the one most hated and 
despised among the Jews, was that cross upon 
which Jesus of Nazareth had died. Probably 
the Jews had never hated any other as they 
hated the teacher, who, rising from the lowly 
walks of life, boldly attacked their deep-rooted 
prejudices, and rebuked their sins, exposing the 
vanity and emptiness of their formalism, and 
laying bare their hypocritical pretenses. That 
cross was doubtless above all others hateful to 
the Jews. But here is a Jew, who tells us he is 
a Hebrew of the Hebrews, who yet turns aside 
from all those objects of national pride in which 
he once gloried, and selecting a cross, this cross, 
discarding every other reliance and trust, says — 



102 



"God forbid that I should glory save in the cross 
of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Paul was no fanatic, no wild mad dreamer. 
All his writings bear the impress of a mind re- 
markably clear and vigorous. This is no hasty 
conclusion. For a quarter of a century he had 
made that cross the center of his hopes and 
affections. For it he had endured revilings, 
persecutions, imprisonments, and stripes. It 
had brought him no worldly honors, but for it 
he had sacrificed all earthly prospects. Yet in 
this, and this alone, he glories. What is there 
here in which to glory ? I answer, Paul gloried 
in the cross for the reason that 

I. It revealed the love of God for fallen sin- 
ful man. That God should love our race is, I 
believe, exclusively a Bible truth. I do not think 
a trace of such an idea can be found in any 
heathen system. It is true that those systems 
taught that one or another of the divinities 
loved particular individuals, or even whole na- 
tions. But so far as I know there is no trace of 
that broad, all-embracing love, that takes in the 
whole race. This is a doctrine known only to 
those who have obtained it directly or indirectly 
from the Bible. Nor did the Bible make the 
revelation complete, until it was completed in 
Christ and the cross. 

Nature reveals something of love. This 



108 



beautiful earth, the glorious sunlight by clay, 
and the star-gemmed dome by night, the infi- 
nitely varied scenery and products of our earth, 
the ever varying seasons, the grateful, refreshing 
showers, the cool balmy breezes, the keen sense 
of life and bounding health, and buoyant 
strength ; the mental faculties with the dispo- 
sition to seek, capacity and opportunity for 
finding such exquisite delight in the acquisition 
of knowledge in its varied channels — all these 
things might be interpreted to mean love, ten- 
der regard on the part of our Creator. But 
why the freezing blasts of winter, the burning 
rays of summer? Why the lightning and 
thunder, and storm, and tornado? the volcano 
and the earthquake ? Why the thousand forms 
of disease that wreck these bodies? Why do 
we grow old and die ? Why is death and decay 
written upon all things about us ? Why are the 
dearest, tenderest ties so often snapped asun 
der, and the heart left torn, and bleeding, and 
desolate? Why is it that across every pathway 
of knowledge, as we advance, arise barriers we 
cannot surmount, leaving the mind oppressed 
and weighed down with questionings, which 
however often and earnestly repeated, elicit no 
answer? These things baffle human wisdom, 
and leave the mind trembling in doubtful equi- 
poise, whether there be any God who cares for 



104 



us, who loves us. Even with the light of Old 
Testament revelation this glorious truth that 
God loves our race was not fully received. The 
Jews believed that God loved them but not the 
Gentiles. All his love was exhausted upon 
them — all his care exhausted upon them. The 
other nations of the earth were outside of His 
covenant, shut out from His heart. The Jews 
were His peculiar people, and for them He felt 
affection, over them exercised guardianship; 
but all others He would leave to perish. 

But when Christ came another volume of 
revelation was opened. New, and hitherto un- 
known depths of the divine character were 
brought to view. He came the light of the 
world. He came to be lifted up that He might 
draw all men unto Him. He came declaring 
that God so loved the world, that He gave His 
only begotten Son to die for that world's re- 
demption. The form of His invitation was, 
" Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest." "Him that 
cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." 
Here first appears clearly, in all its fullness, the 
all-embracing love of God. "Herein is love, 
not that we loved God, but that He loyed us, 
and sent His son to be the propitiation for our 
sins." This indeed is love, long-suffering love, 
reedeming love, divine love, unknown, unimag- 



105 



ined by human mind until revealed in Christ. 
And this love gathers all its glories round the 
cross of Christ, and from that cross diffuses 
its brightest rays. All this was represented to 
the mind of Paul by the cross, and that was one 
reason why he gloried in the cross. Paul gloried 
in the cross 

II. Because of its moral power. The exhibition 
of this power formed a part of his own experience. 
He had not forgotten the time when he himself, 
under the delusion of Jewish superstition and 
prejudice had hated the cross, and persecuted 
unto death some of those who built their hopes 
upon it. But a new and heavenly light from 
the cross had shined into his mind, showing him 
how benighted had been his understanding, how 
perverted his conscience, how hard and wicked 
his heart. And, when, sinking in despair on ac- 
count of these revelations of his own corruption, 
he felt that he was trembling on the crumbling 
brink of eternal woe, then from that cross, even 
clown to him, had flowed a stream of pardoning 
love, and cleansing blood, by which the load of 
sin had been removed, the foul stain of guilt all 
washed out, and his freed spirit made to taste that 
joy unspeakable and full of glory. This was to 
him the beginning of life, and not conferring 
with flesh and blood, the language of his heart 

was, " Lord what wilt thou have me to do ? " 
10 



106 



The faith he once destroyed it is now his delight 
to preach. He who once thirsted for the blood 
of the saints, now with tears of humble grati- 
tude and overflowing heart styles himself " less 
than the least of all saints." All worldly hopes 
and ambitions are cast aside —and bearing about 
in his body the dying of his Lord, he forsakes 
home, and kindred, and country — travels far and 
near — poor, unknown, often alone, enduring 
hardships, encountering danger in its most ap- 
palling forms — all, that he might preach a cru- 
cified Redeemer to dying men. With all this 
there is no boasting, no self-laudation, but with 
touching humility and everflowing gratitude to 
Heaven's King he testifies — " By the grace of 
God I am what I am." 

Further, Paul had seen exhibitions of the 
moral power of the cross in its effects upon oth- 
ers. In his labors as a herald of the cross he 
had been brought into contact with every phase 
of human character. He had preached the gos- 
pel not only to the Jews, but also to the heath- 
en, to the rude semi-barbarous inhabitants of 
Macedonia, and to the highly-cultivated and pol- 
ished Athenians. He had enjoyed opportunities 
of witnessing the operations of the truth and 
Spirit of God, upon men of every phase and 
shade of character, and occupying every condi- 
tion in life. He had seen an educated Timo- 



107 



thy, and an eloquent Apollos yielding to this 
power, forsaking worldly hopes and ambitions, 
and consecrating life, strength, everything to 
the work of preaching Christ. He had seen the 
brutal jailor melted down by the same power, 
pale, trembling, subdued — in humbk earnest 
tones enquiring "what must I do to be saved?" 
He had seen multitudes of his fellow men of 
different creeds and different nationalities, pre- 
senting every variety of mental and moral char- 
acter known in that age, under the pressing 
power of gospel truth, swayed, melted, subdued, 
prostrate and in tears crying out for mercy. 
He had witnessed marvelous changes in char- 
acter and life wrought by this truth — the proud 
and haughty made weak and humble — the vio- 
lent and cruel made gentle and loving — the vile 
and impure made chaste and holy. Here were 
exhibitions of moral power that Paul well knew 
men to have found nowhere else. Well might 
he glory in that cross which before him stood as 
the symbol of all this power. 

The same truths still remain. There is to-day 
a moral power in those truths clustering around 
the cross, which is not matched or paralleled by 
aught else known to man. The name of Jesus 
is felt, as no other name is felt by saint and sin- 
ner. Go to the wicked worldly man and at- 
tempt to urge upon him the claims of Moham- 



108 



meclism or Mormonism, or some form of actual 
idolatry, and though he may hear you with a 
contemptuous smile, there is no danger of stir- 
ring his wrath. But talk to him of Jesus, of 
Calvary, of the cross, and how often his eye 
will kindle and his cheek flush with anger, and 
how extremely probable that you will receive 
some petulant cutting answer. Why is this ? 
Ah, there is a power in that name which the 
sinner feels, hardened though he be. But there 
is no such power in the name of Mohammed, 
Swedenborg, or Joe Smith. 

Consider the power of this name as felt by 
christians. How often may a scene like this be 
witnessed. In the house of God are assembled 
fifty or a hundred persons. Before them is a 
table on which is placed a little bread and a 
little wine. Beside that table stands one of 
their number. He is talking while the rest sit 
in deep silence. He is talking of an event that 
transpired more than eighteen hundred years 
ago. He is not telling them any thing new. 
They have all heard it related in almost the 
same words many, many times. The speaker 
has related it on many former occasions ; and 
yet as he speaks his voice is low and tremulous, 
and every face in that assembly is bathed in 
tears. Be assured he speaks of Jesus. There 
is no other name that can thus stir the deep 



109 



emotions of the human heart. Some of you re- 
member when a little less than two months since, 
we in this church met with the members of a 
sister church of our village to commemorate the 
death of our Lord. There were several hundred 
present, but little was said during the adminis- 
tration of the ordinance. Yet what mighty bil- 
lows of deep emotions swept over that assembly. 
Yet nothing there was new to any one of us. 
It was all an old story, but it set before us 
Jesus and the cross. Here surely is that in 
which man may well glory. We challenge the 
world to show its parallel. Paul was right. He 
but spoke the words of wisdom and soberness 
when he gave utterance to our text — :i God for- 
bid that I should glory save in the cross of our 
Lord Jesus Christ."' Paul gloried in the cross of 
Christ 

HI. As THE SOURCE AND CENTER 0E ALL HIS 

bbtghtest hopes. All mankind in a great measure 

live upon hope. Take away all a man's hopes 

and his heart dies within him. Xo present joy 

or prosperity can buoy him up ; the burdens of 

life soon become more than he can bear. There 

is no one living, either saint or sinner, whose 

spirit is sustained by what he now possesses. 

All are upborne amid the trials and ills of the 

present by hopes for the future. These hopes 

may pertain to this life here upon earth, or to 
10* 



110 



the life beyond the tomb. But hopes of some 
kind all must have, hopes which they cherish, 
and to which they cling, which are anchors to 
the soul. Not always, alas, sure and steadfast, 
for they do not always enter into that which is 
within the vail. Paul lived upon the hopes of 
a future life of eternal blessedness. These 
hopes never forsook him — they were prominent 
elements of his daily life and experience — were 
a part of his very existence. Was he called to 
endure sorrows, privations, afflictions, then these 
hopes found utterance in language like the fol- 
lowing — 66 We know that all things work together 
for good to them that love God, to them who are 
the called according to his purpose. For our light 
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for 
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory." In view of the near approach of death he 
could say, " For we know that if our earthly house 
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a build- 
ing of God, a house not made with hands, eternal 
in the heavens. I am now ready to be offered, 
and the time of my departure is at hand. I have 
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I 
have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid up 
for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord 
the righteous Judge shall give me at that day: 
and not to me only, but unto all them also that 
love His appearing. 0, death, where is thy sting ! 



Ill 



grave, where is thy victory ? The sting of 
death is sin. and the strength of sin is the law. 
But thanks be to God which giveth us the vic- 
tory through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who shall 
separate us from the love of Christ ? Shall trib- 
ulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or 
nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these 
things we are more than conquerors through 
Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that 
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princijDal- 
ities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things 
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other 
creature, shall be able to separate us from the 
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
Would you ask how Paul came in possession of 
such glorious hopes, such triumphant confidence ? 
We have the fullest testimony running through 
all of his writings, and therefore too lengthy to 
transcribe here, that all this centres in the cross. 
Therefore he expresses his determination to 
know nothing save Jesus Christ, and Him cruci- 
fied ; and varying the sentiment slightly we find 
it in the words of our text — "God forbid that I 
should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ." There have been since the days of 
Paul, and there are now multitudes of christians 
whose experience in all essential features, corre- 
sponds with that of Paul. Take one example. 
An old man, of mind naturally feeble, and but 



112 



little cultivated, who had been rescued from 
very low depths of degradation, thus testifies 
when near the end of his earthly pilgrimage, 
after many years spent in the service of the 
Lord — "From the time I first believed I have 
never had a dark hour. Since then my wife 
has died, my only daughter has died. Of my 
two sons, the youngest was taken with a linger- 
ing fever and died, and after that the eldest 
was suddenly killed, and they are all gone now, 
there is not one of them left, and I am alone. 
My property too has run down so low that I 
am very poor. All alone, old and poor, but it 
all makes no odds. Christ don't die — Christ is'nt 
poor. Christ never leaves me, He is always 
with me. I know Him, I have seen Him. And 
anybody who has ever seen Him once, will never 
want anything else if he can only have Him." 
Who would not glory in a cross which repre- 
sents a power that can accomplish such results 
as these. 

My hearers, the glory of the cross of Christ will 
shine with undiminished brightness throughout 
the endless ages of eternity. To the redeemed 
millions of that bright world, though they stand 
in full view of the throne of God, still the cross 
will be the symbol of all that they most prize. 
Go with the apostle John, as, in wrapt vision, he 
is permitted to look in upon the glories of that 



113 



world. Hark, 'tis a new song they sing — "Thou 
art worthy, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed 
us unto God by Thy blood, out of every kin- 
dred, and people, and tongue, and nation ; and 
hast made us unto our God kings and priests. 
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive 
power and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and 
honor, and glory, and blessing."' 

Do you ask who are these ? " These are they 
who came up out of great tribulation, and have 
washed their robes and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb." 

Blessed be the name of God for the cross of 
our Lord Jesus Christ ! Eternal praise and 
glory to Him who then poured out his blood for 
our redemption. that we may all be brought 
to a saving knowledge of those blessed truths 
of which the cross is the symbol ! that we 
may all be able from the heart to say with Paul 
— "God forbid that I should glory save in the 
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 - God grant it 
for His name's sake. Amen. 



II 



THE CAPTAIN OF OUR SALVATION. 

TEXT : HEB. II : 10. 

For it became Htm, for whom are all tilings, and by whom 
are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the 
Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. 

The longer I live the more deeply am I im- 
pressed with the conviction, that, as a rule, we 
utterly fail in rightly apprehending some of the 
most glorious and precious truths, which our 
Heavenly Father has seen fit to reveal to us. 
We come to the study of the word and ways of 
God, with so many erroneous conceptions, wrong 
opinions and prejudices, that it has to fight its 
way gradually into the mind. We reluctantly 
give up our errors, one after another, and slowly 
receive truth after truth; so reluctantly, so 
slowly indeed, that a large proportion of chris- 
tians even, seem to live and die holding more 
that is false than that which is true — or at least 
rejecting vastly more truth than they accept. 
And were it not that God in His infinite mercy 
condescends to receive, bless and save us, while 
yet covered with imperfections, then indeed 
would our case be utterly hopeless. This reluc- 
tance to receive the plain simple truth, as God has 



115 



revealed it, appears oftentimes with reference 
to the most obvious teachings of the word of 
God. This has been a matter of observation 
with all those who in times of revival have en- 
deavored to point enquiring souls hi the way of 
life. Errors the most groundless, absurd, and 
ridiculous, often stand in the way, and the poor 
soul is unable to discover any means of escape 
from them. After coming to Christ and accept- 
ing Him as our Saviour, we continue to exhibit 
a similar reluctance to receive many of the 
most precious truths pertaining to Him. How 
slow most christians are to receive and appre- 
hend Christ in the fullness of His office, and the 
perfection of His work. Indeed as a general 
thing, I believe there are years of varied expe- 
rience and discipline before the subject of re. 
newing grace is brought up to this point. Much 
more is it true then that we are slow to appre- 
hend the deep things of God. 

There are some profound mysteries connected 
with the christian religion. The great central 
fact of the christian system is itself a mystery, in 
the contemplation of which the human mind is 
overwhelmed. So profound and startling is it 
that the chief of the apostles is led to exclaim 
— "Great is the mystery of godliness: God 
was manifest in the flesh." There are things 
here which we are told the angels desired to 



116 



look into. Our text, I think, leads us in the 
direction of some of these profound truths of 
revelation. I shall endeavor to bring before 
you at this time some of my own conceptions 
of these truths. The undertaking is attended 
with some peculiar difficulties, and in it I shall 
utterly fail unless you give me close attention. 

The apostle is here speaking of the great 
work of saving souls, and of God's agency in 
that work. This I suppose none will question, 
and I will therefore content myself with the sim- 
ple statement, and pass on in the consideration 
of the text. We find here three leading topics 
for consideration. 1 shall take them up in the 
order in which they stand in the text. 

I. 66 It became Him for whom are all things, and 
by whom are all things." I imagine that none 
will question that this is God Himself. The 
particular thought to which I wish to call your 
attention is suggested by the words — 11 It became 
Him." The Bible presents God to us as an ab- 
solute sovereign, but not as an arbitrary ruler. 
For Him are all things, and by Him are all 
things, yet He Himself in all His conduct has 
respect to certain rules. There is a rule of right 
which throws its claim over every moral being, 
and touches every moral act, in accordance with 
which God administers all things in the kingdom 
of His providence, and in the kingdom of His 



117 



grace. In other words, Gocl will do nothing 
unworthy of Himself. Infinite obligations rest 
upon Jehovah with reference to the administra- 
tion of the affairs of His vast empire. Not that 
He is responsible to any higher power or greater 
being than Himself ; but these obligations have 
their foundation in the elements of His own 
character. And to disregard these would be to 
rob Himself of His own infinite worthiness, to 
tarnish His own perfections, to cease to be what 
He ever has been — "The Lord Jehovah, God 
over all, and blessed forever more." Therefore 
the expression of Paul is strictly proper — u It 
became Him in bringing many sons unto glory." 
The whole world is in revolt. All the sons of 
Adam have sinned and departed from Gocl. 
''the wages of sin is death." Perpetual separa- 
tion from God involves the utter extremity of 
creature woe. Now God would save our race. 
He does not desire, or delight in the death of 
any. "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no 
pleasure in the death of the wicked ; but that 
the wicked turn from his way and live ; turn 
ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will 
ye die." Thus God gives expression to His 
feeling toward perishing sinners. And if the 
case involved nothing but feeling, it may be 
that God would have made provision for taking 
all to heaven without any costly atonement, 
11 



118 



without attaching any such conditions as repen- 
tance, faith, and obedience. 

But in this, as in every other governmental 
act, God owes something to Himself, to His own 
character, to His law, to justice, to the great 
rule of right. And therefore it became Him in 
devising a scheme for the redemption of fallen 
man, for his salvation from eternal death, to 
satisfy in full all the demands of divine justice, 
to see to it that all the great fundamental prin- 
ciples of His government were respected, that 
none of the established laws of His empire were 
violated. 

Think not, sinner, that because the Lord is 
good and merciful, and kind and loving, there, 
fore you will surely be saved. For even in this 
work of salvation, it became Him to attach cer- 
tain conditions, and not one of those conditions 
can be violated for your sake, or for the sake of 
any other member of the human family. 

II. "In bringing many sons unto glory? I 
wish to dwell a little while on this thought — 
many sons are to be brought to glory. The 
gospel scheme will not be a failure, though mul- 
titudes reject it. Though thus far in the his- 
tory of the gospel dispensation, the great mass 
of human beings have failed to avail themselves 
of its provisions, yet God will give such increas- 
ing success to His truth, that even as compared 



119 



with the numbers lost, it may with propriety be 
said that God will bring many sons to glory. 
Do you ask whence they are to come ? From 
every nation and kindred and people under the 
whole heaven — from north and south, from east 
and west — from every land and clime the re- 
deemed of the Lord shall come, and sit clown 
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom 
of heaven. And for the fulfillment of this we 
need not wait for that day when all shall know 
the Lord. Even now out of the ungodly fami- 
lies of christian lands, and from the darkest 
territories of heathenism, God is gathering into 
His kingdom the elect of His love. Go count 
the little graves with which the surface of our 
earth is billowed o'er, in all its length and 
breadth, and then remember the words of Him 
who said, "of such is the kingdom of heaven." 
"In my Father's house are many mansions," 
saith the Saviour. God designs to bring many 
sons (o glory, and doubtless all these mansions 
will be full. In the apocalyptic vision John 
saw, in addition to the many thousands of Israel, 
an innumerable multitude which no man could 
number, standing about the throne, and singing 
the praises of redeeming love. " These are they 
which came out of great tribulation, and have 
washed their robes and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before 



120 



the throne of God, and serve Him day and 
night in His temple ; and He that sitteth on the 
throne shall dwell among them. They shall 
hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither 
shall the sun light on them nor any heat. For 
the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne 
shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living 
fountains of waters ; and Gocl shall wipe away 
all tears from their eyes." 

We come now to the consideration of the 
most difficult, and in some respects the most 
interesting topic of our text. 

III. "It became Him * * * in bringing 
many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of 
our salvation perfect through suffering." The 
Captain of our salvation is Jesus Christ the Son 
of God, of whom it is declared that in the be- 
ginning He was with Gocl, and He was God — 
that all things were made by Him, and without 
Him was not anything made that was made. 
He is declared to be "The Mighty Gocl, the 
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" — "the 
same yesterday, to day, and forever," and yet 
our text speaks of His being made perfect 
through suffering. This brings us face to face 
with the great mystery of godliness — God mani- 
fest in the flesh. Let us approach the subject 
reverently, for in approaching it we tread upon 
holy ground. 



121 



My first remark under this head of my dis- 
course pertains to one of those mistakes, or 
misapprehensions of which I spoke at the out- 
set of my remarks. It seems to me we must 
regard this and a large number of kindred pas- 
sages as meaningless, or we must discard as ut- 
terly false and erroneous certain widely preva- 
lent conceptions of the Divine Being. From 
having conversed with different persons on the 
subject I am led to the conclusion that some 
such conceptions of God as the following are 
very prevalent — I remember when I entertained 
them. Gocl is great and glorious and holy and 
pure and righteous and blessed — infinite in His 
every attribute — an almighty and impassive 
he'mg- — floating in a shoreless and unfathomable 
ocean of His own perfections, and by the whole 
breadth and depth of that ocean separated from 
His creatures: having not a single attribute 
that serves to bring Him near us, but on the 
other hand every one of them serving to widen 
the measureless gulf that yawns between — lov- 
ing His creatures much as the sun diffuses light 
and heat among the plants, from a kind of ne- 
cessity of His nature ; but that love involving no 
tender ties, by which He might be brought into 
sympathetic relations with sinful, struggling, 
suffering humanity. Now such ideas of God 
are not scriptural. It is there declared that 
11* 



122 



"like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord 
pitieth them that fear Him. For He knoweth 
our frame, He remembereth we are dust." The 
scriptures do not present our God to us as an 
utterly impassive being. They speak of His be- 
ing pleased, delighted under some circumstances, 
and under other circumstances of His being 
grieved, pained. Take one or two examples of 
this. In pleading with His erring people of old 
God uses this language — "How shall I give thee 
up Ephraim, how shall I deliver thee Israel ? 
How shall I make thee as Admah, how shall I 
set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned 
within me— my repentings are kindled togeth- 
er." In another place God declares He was 
grieved forty years in the wilderness with the 
stubborn unbelief of the Jews. There are many 
other passages and declarations of like import. 
I need not detain } ou with further quotations. 
The thought I wish to impress upon you is that 
God is not a passionless, emotionless being. He 
has feelings, and He does feel. He can under- 
stand our feelings and sympathize with us in 
them. Unless this view be correct it seems to 
me that God's fatherly relation to us is little 
more than a mockery. 

And further, since the highest, and purest, and 
holiest elements of human character are drawn 
out and developed by suffering, it follows that 



123 



unless this view be correct, in the direction of 
the highest elements of our nature, we cannot 
find God. Xor can I at all understand how, 
according to any other view, nearness to God 
can be blessedness to man. But if God be in- 
deed thus capable of deep and thrilling emo- 
tions, if there be in the divine bosom a great 
and sy pathizing heart, throbbing, palpitating with 
tenderness and love, then may we understand 
how through the discipline of struggles and suf- 
fering we may be brought nearer and nearer to 
Him, and made more and more like Him. 

The captain of our salvation was made per- 
fect through suffering. This seems a strange 
declaration, yet we find it repeated substantially 
in the 8th and 9th verses of the 5th chapter of 
this epistle. "Though He were a son, yet 
learned He obedience by the things which He 
suffered, and being made perfect, He became the 
author of eternal salvation unto all them that 
obey Him." Again our Saviour Himself, after His 
resurrection, in conversation with the two disci- 
ples on the way to Emmaus, indirectly declares 
the same thing. It seems then that m this work 
of saving sinners there is something so pecu- 
liar, something so unlike any other work in all 
the wide empire of Jehovah, that even the sec- 
ond person in the Trinity, though divine in His 
nature, and infinite in every attribute, was not 



124 



perfectly fitted for this work until by suffering 
He became fitted. This doubtless is one of the 
deep things of God, and I think it doubtful 
whether it is possible for us in our present state 
of existence fully to understand it. Yet I wish 
to present for your consideration one or two 
thoughts which may shed some light upon this 
subject. 

The work of Christ is the work of saving 
men from the bitter and dreadful consequences 
of sin. In the introduction of sin into this 
world, and its perpetuation here a great wrong 
has been done ; the order and harmony of the 
divine administration has been disturbed, just 
so far as sin has extended. Now it seems to be 
a law in the kingdom of God, that every good 
is attainable only at a cost, correspondent in 
value and character to the good attained. And 
the application of the same law demands that 
in the righting of any wrong there shall be an 
outlay, correspondent in character and extent 
to the wrong which is to be righted. There- 
fore when Christ undertook to right the great 
wrong of sin in this world, when He undertook 
to save men from the unimaginable sufferings 
to which they were exposed by reason of their 
sins, this undertaking, according to the princi- 
ples of the government of God, necessarily in- 
volved suffering on His part, and suffering which 



125 



in its character and degree should in some 
measure at least, correspond with that from 
which He designed to deliver men. As the 
Savionr of sinners from guilt and death, Christ 
ought to have suffered these things. It is 
through the ministry and discipline of these 
sufferings that He becomes unto us a complete 
and perfect Saviour; but glory be to the name 
of our Gcd, being thus made perfect he becomes 
the author of eternal salvation to all them that 
obey Him. 

Again. Jesus Christ is our priest, as Avell as 
our atoning sacrifice. Having opened unto us 
a way of reconciliation through His blood, He 
now pleads for us, making continual intercession 
for us before His father's throne. But in order to 
do this effectually, how necessary that He should 
be fully able to sympathize with us in our sor- 
rows and temptations, sorely tasting sorrow and 
enduring temptation Himself. Such is in sub- 
stance the reasoning of Paul in the 4th chapter 
of Hebrews, closing with these remarkable words 
— u For we have not an high priest which can- 
not be touched with the feeling of our infirmi- 
ties; but was in all points tempted like as we 
are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come 
boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may 
obtain mercy and find grace to help in every 
time of need." 



126 



ye, who in bitterness and sorrow walk in 
darkness, bowed to the earth under heavy 
burdens, go to Him who in the days of His 
flesh offered up prayers and supplications with 
strong crying and tears. He can look right 
down into your heart, can weigh every sorrow, 
every grief. There is not one drop of bitter- 
ness there which He cannot see, understand, 
and take away. The captain of our salvation 
has been made perfect through suffering. 

A remark or two and I am clone. In the 
light of this subject we may see God as in- 
deed our Father. Not simply the great Creator, 
the Universal Kuler, separated from us by all 
that inconceivable distance which separates the 
Infinite from the finite, but very near to us 
also. While lifted infinitely above us by the 
perfections of His every attribute, separated 
from us as far as purity from impurity, holiness 
from sin; yet brought near unto us by His com- 
passion, His pity, the earnest, yearning love of 
His great sympathizing and tender heart. He 
is not impassive and emotionless, but regards 
with feelings that are real, all our interests, all 
our struggles with enemies within and without, 
all our longings and aspirations after higher and 
better and nobler things. 



When we bow before Him in prayer let us 
not feel that we are talking with one away off 
beyond the stars, but one who is near to us ; 
and our softest whisperings, if coming from the 
heart, enter His ear and reach the heart. 

I feel that it is especially important that 
young christians, those who are new beginners 
in the service of the Lord, should gain rioilt 
apprehensions of this subject. And in order 
that you may do so let me exhort all such — be 
not content with an}' ordinary attainments in 
the christian life. Strive to get so near to God 
that you may feel the throbbing of His great 
heart. Accept a heavenly Father who really 
loves you, a Saviour, ^vho, having suffered far 
more than you are called to suffer, can feel for 
you, can be touched with the feeling of your 
infirmity, even having been tempted in all 
points like as we have, and who, having passed 
through such temptations and sufferings, and 
by these having been made perfect, is able to 
succor you when tempted, is made unto you 
the author of eternal salvation, if you will but 
obey and follow Him. May the God of all 
mercy and grace so lead, so influence, and so 
teach each one of us, that at last, through 
riches of divine mercy we may appear before 
His face with exceeding great joy, and, with 



128 



that innumerable multitude which no man can 
number, unite in ascribing honor and glory 
and dominion and power and wisdom and sal- 
vation to Him that hath loved us and redeemed 
us by His own blood. 



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DEC 28 1904 



